A Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) is the process by which an employer in Canada must justify why a foreign worker should be hired, rather than a Canadian (citizen or permanent resident). Though there are exceptions to the LMIA requirement (e.g. certain professional categories), where an LMIA is sought, various actions must be taken and conditions met, and the nature of such actions/conditions will sometimes be dictated by whether the position to be filled is considered High-Wage or Low-Wage. For instance, High-Wage positions require a ‘transition plan’ – a plan whereby the employer shows how the position will be transitioned to a Canadian in the future, and Low-Wage positions are subject to maximum numbers of positions proportional to the overall number of employees in the company.
The dividing line between High-Wage and Low-Wage workers is set by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), and is done on a province by province bases. The Low-Wage/High-Wage cut-off is set to change effective April 22, 2019, and as such, employers must be aware of whether a position being filled is considered Low-Wage or High-Wage based on the new criteria. Otherwise, incorrect procedures may be followed, and incorrect requirements will be pursued – and applications will therefore fail. The new wage guidelines can be found at https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/foreign-workers/median-wage.html.
Employers in Canada, and those that assist them, should therefore be aware of these new wage guidelines.
[Note that the consideration of the Low-Wage/High-Wage cut-off is separate from the consideration of the appropriate salary for a particular position based on NOC code. Appropriate salary must indeed be paid for any particular positions as per median wage guidelines found at https://www.jobbank.gc.ca/trend-analysis/search-wages, but whether or not that position will be considered High-Wage or Low-Wage – and therefore what LMIA application considerations/requirements are appropriate – are based on the ESDC guidelines set out in the first link above.]The information in this article is for general purposes only, and not intended as legal advice for any particular situation.