Hold a work permit? Since 4 September 2026 you can take a course of six months or less without a study permit.
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LMIA — employer checklist — document checklist
Prepared by CHK Immigration Services Inc. · government fee $1,000 per position, non-refundable
LMIA — employer checklist — document checklist
Every document an officer will look for, grouped in the order they are read. The ones marked refusal risk are where these applications actually fail — a complete file is not the same as a persuasive one.
10 documents 7 where refusals happen Government fee $1,000 per position, non-refundable
Identity
Who is this person, and is the story consistent?Where files fail here: Names, dates or passport details that disagree across documents.
Business legitimacy documents
A municipal or provincial business licence, or where none is required, CRA records: T4 summary, T2 schedules 100 and 125, and the PD7A. The PD7A is the one that matters — it proves you are actually remitting source deductions for real employees.
Eligibility
Do they meet this program's bar, on paper?Where files fail here: A requirement evidenced by assertion instead of a document.
Check the region before you spend a dollar
Low-wage applications are refused outright, unprocessed, where the work location sits in a census metropolitan area with unemployment of 6% or higher — currently including Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa–Gatineau, Hamilton, Moncton and St. John’s. Construction, food manufacturing, hospitals, residential care, some caregiver roles and positions of 120 days or less are exempt. The table is refreshed quarterly; next update 9 October 2026.
Set the wage against the current threshold
High wage or low wage is decided by the provincial median plus 20%, and the thresholds changed on 17 July 2026. Set the wage against last year’s table and the position lands in the low-wage stream, where the caps and the refusal-to-process rule then apply. Only guaranteed wages count — not overtime, tips, bonuses or commission.
Advertising, with dated proof
High wage: Job Bank plus two more methods, one national, running four consecutive weeks in the three months before you apply. Low wage: eight consecutive weeks, plus recruitment aimed at youth and at under-represented groups. At least one activity must still be running when the decision issues. Undated screenshots are the most common evidentiary failure.
Transition plan
Still mandatory for high-wage positions. Assessed on whether the recruit, retain and train commitments are concrete — boilerplate recycled between applications draws scrutiny.
Provincial employer registration, in BC, MB, SK and NS
Must be in hand before the application is submitted. Employers who try to obtain it afterwards file incomplete.
Sector documents, where they apply
Trucking: carrier profile, National Safety Code certificate, fleet insurance. Foreign vessels: a Coasting Trade Act letter of authority. Foreign-based employers: the contract or invoice for work in Canada. Always required for those applications, not on request.
Funds
Is the money real, available, and theirs?Where files fail here: A large deposit landing days before filing, with no explanation.
Ability to pay the wage offered
Financial statements, or an attestation from your financial institution where CRA documents are not available, showing you can fund the position for the permit’s duration.
Low-wage employer obligations
Round-trip transport, housing that is suitable and costs under 30% of pre-tax income, private emergency health insurance where provincial coverage lags, workplace safety insurance, a written employment agreement. None of it may be recovered from the worker, and recovery is a compliance violation rather than a weak application.
The $1,000 fee, paid by you
Per position, non-refundable even on refusal or withdrawal, and it cannot be recovered from the worker. Exemptions: caregivers for people with high medical needs, in-home child care where household income is $150,000 or less, and primary agriculture.
General information, not legal advice. This checklist is prepared by CHK Immigration Services Inc. and was checked against the Government of Canada’s published requirements on the date shown. Requirements change and vary by case, and IRCC generates a personalised document list for many applications — where that list or canada.ca differs from this document, they govern.
Lead times are planning estimates, not guarantees. Police certificates and credential assessments in particular vary widely by country and provider. IRCC makes all final decisions.
CHK Immigration Services Inc. is an immigration consultancy with offices in Brampton and London, Ontario. Our consultants are regulated by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC). Nothing in this document creates a client–consultant relationship.
Current version: https://chkimmigration.ca/checklists/lmia-employer
Checked against the official IRCC page for this application in September 2026. Where that page disagrees with anything here, it wins. General information, not legal advice. Lead times are planning estimates, not guarantees — police certificates and credential assessments in particular vary widely by country and provider. IRCC also generates a personalised checklist for many applications, and that list governs. IRCC makes all final decisions.
Having the documents is not the same as having a persuasive file.
Every item above can be present and correct and the application can still be refused — on intent, on a date that does not reconcile, or on a lead time that ran out. A licensed consultant reads it the way an officer will.
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CHK Immigration Services — Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (CICC). Offices in Brampton and London, Ontario. Submitting this form does not create a client–consultant relationship; IRCC makes all final decisions.