Hello, this is NohProblem Consulting!
With the recent tightening of LMIA regulations, we are pleased to share that the LMIAs we submitted before September 26th have been processed faster than average, and we are receiving approval letters.
Today, we bring you some exciting news about an LMIA approval in Alberta!
Shall we take a look together?
LMIA Approval Timeline
- 2024-08-07: LMIA Submitted
- 2024-10-16: LMIA Approved
The star of today’s story is a client from the Philippines. They entered Canada on a visitor visa and prepared the LMIA with Nohproblem Consulting. After submitting on August 7th, they received LMIA approval on October 17th, taking 51 days (business days).
They received LMIA approval for a Cashier position at a fitness center in Alberta and were very satisfied. Next week, they will be using flagpoling to obtain their work permit with the approved LMIA.
We hope to bring you more good news related to this and will soon share an interview with this client, so stay tuned!
Low-Wage LMIA Suspension
For those interested in Canadian immigration, you may have heard the recent announcement regarding the suspension of low-wage LMIAs. This news has caused many people to reconsider their immigration plans.
The suspension affects the processing of Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIA) under the low-wage stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) in certain Census Metropolitan Areas (CMA).
The government has announced that:
◾LMIA applications for low-wage positions in Census Metropolitan Areas with an unemployment rate of 6% or higher will no longer be processed,
◾The current cap on the proportion of low-wage positions in some sectors will be reduced from 20% to 10%,
◾In the construction and healthcare sectors, the cap for low-wage positions will decrease to 20%,
◾The maximum employment duration for low-wage positions has been reduced from 2 years to 1 year.
This includes LMIA for PR purposes (Dual-Intent) as well.
Immigration Lawyers’ Suggested Solutions
In light of this suspension, immigration lawyers have proposed some potential solutions:
- Find employers who have not previously applied for an LMIA (those employing less than 10-20% foreign workers compared to current staff).
- Receive or offer job offers at or above the median wage (depending on whether you are an applicant or employer) by referring to your region’s median wage in the chart provided.
3. Use government subsidies to ensure wages qualify as high-wage positions. For example, in BC, subsidies can raise an ECE’s wage to over $28.85, making them eligible as a high-wage position (e.g., an ECE in BC earning $23 plus a $6 subsidy qualifies as a high-wage position and is unaffected by this policy).
4. Utilize other PNP streams for hiring.
5. Apply for work permits through other programs like Young Professional or Working Holiday.
6. Obtain a work permit through Co-op programs.
7. Prepare for LMIA while waiting for the regulations to ease.
These appear to be the best options for now.
We hope this news about an LMIA approval in Alberta was helpful.
With the tightening of LMIA regulations, now more than ever, it’s crucial to partner with consulting services like Nohproblem, which has diverse experience and a high success rate.
