Changes to Labour Market Impact Assessments/Temporary Foreign Worker Program

Starting immediately there are three changes to the LMIA/TFW Program:

1. there is no longer a limit to the number of low-wage positions that employers in seasonal industries, such as fish and seafood processing, can fill through the TFW Program. Further, the maximum duration of these positions has increased from 180 days to 270 days per year;
2. LMIAs will now be valid for 18 months, an increase from 9 months, and;
3. the maximum duration of employment for high-wage and Global Talent Streams workers will be extended from 2 years to 3 years.

Effective April 30, 2022 there will be two other major changes;

1. for seven sectors such as Accommodation and Food Services, employers will be allowed to hire up to 30% of their workforce through the TFW Program for low-wage positions for one year. All other employers will be allowed to hire up to 20% of their workforce through the TFW Program for low-wage positions. This is an increase from the 10% cap formerly in place;
2. the current policy that automatically refuses LMIA applications for low-wage occupations in the Accommodation and Food Services and Retail Trade sectors in regions with an unemployment rate of 6% or higher, has ended.

To the people affected, these are big changes. The reforms, though, do not change the fact that the LMIA and TFW Program is overly complex, overly technical, and hard to access. These changes are cosmetic, not structural.