Question Period Note: Labour Market Impact Assessment

The Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program has seen a significant increase in overall demand. What measures have been put in place to improve processing times of Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) applications?

Employer demand for the TFW Program has significantly increased in recent months.

The Department has initiated a number of measures to ensure timely LMIA application decisions. These measures include:

Securing additional funding to support the increased workload associated with higher LMIA volumes;

Implementing significant business process enhancements to streamline procedures; and

Actively transitioning the Program to a predominantly online submission model for LMIA application in April 2023, which has enabled further processing efficiencies.

The TFW Program is designed to be responsive to the Canadian labour market by ensuring that Canadians and Permanent Residents are first considered for available jobs.

The LMIA process is the key labour market test that provides the government with assurances that hiring TFWs will not have a negative impact on the Canadian labour market. The LMIA also establishes program conditions that identify standards to ensure the protection of TFWs and prevent bad actors from accessing the Program.

The Program aims to strike a balance between protecting the Canadian Labour Market, informing employers of their obligations, and protecting workers once they arrive.

Once a LMIA is issued, the Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada processes individual work permits for temporary foreign workers.

Despite a 40% increase in LMIA application volume, program modernization efforts have enabled the program to improve productivity and the introduction of significant streamlining measures have shortened processing times, which has given Service Canada the capacity to absorb increased employer demand.

To remain responsive to the Canadian labour market, the Program continues to prioritize processing of applications from key sectors like agriculture and healthcare, as well as applications to hire workers through the Global Talent Stream.

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