LMIA-exempt work permits
Every LMIA exemption code, in one index.
An exemption code is how IRCC records the reason a work permit needs no Labour Market Impact Assessment. Find yours by code, program or situation.
Most searched
The codes people actually need.
Eight codes cover most of the questions we get. Each one links to the full guide.
- C11
→
Run your own business in Canada for a limited time
You own at least 51% and plan to leave when the work ends.
- C10
Your work brings a significant benefit to Canada
Officer discretion; strong evidence of economic, social or cultural benefit.
- C16
→
French speakers working outside Quebec
No LMIA, no recruitment test, any skilled occupation.
- C41
→
Spouse of a skilled worker
Open work permit, if the worker’s job meets the rules in force since January 2025.
- C43
→
Post-graduation work permit
For graduates of eligible Canadian programs.
- A70
→
Applying for PR from inside Canada
Spousal (in Canada class), protected persons and H&C applicants.
- A75
→
Bridging open work permit
Keep working while your PR application is processed.
- T13
→
Provincial nominee with a job
Work while your nomination turns into permanent residence.
The full index
Every code, by regulation.
Where IRCC replaced a code on 15 December 2022, the old one is shown underneath. Use the code that applies on the date you apply.
Public policies
- R01 Public policies under A25.2, inside or outside Canada (e.g. Hong Kong graduates, H-1B holders, province or territory support letters, Quebec PR applicants)
International agreements
- T11 Non-trade agreements: airline personnel, US government personnel
- T34was T21 CUSMA traders
- T35was T22 CUSMA investors
- T36was T23 CUSMA professionals
- T37was T24 CUSMA intra-company transferee: executive or senior manager
- T38was T24 CUSMA intra-company transferee: specialized knowledge
- F10was T21 Colombia FTA traders
- F11was T22 Colombia FTA investors
- F12was T23 Colombia FTA professionals and technicians
- F13was T24 Colombia FTA intra-company transferee: executive or senior manager
- F14was T24 Colombia FTA intra-company transferee: management trainee
- F15was T24 Colombia FTA intra-company transferee: specialized knowledge
- T25 Colombia FTA spouses and common-law partners
- F20was T21 Chile FTA traders
- F21was T22 Chile FTA investors
- F22was T23 Chile FTA professionals
- F23was T24 Chile FTA intra-company transferee: executive or senior manager
- F24was T24 Chile FTA intra-company transferee: specialized knowledge
- F30was T21 Korea FTA traders
- F31was T22 Korea FTA investors
- F32was T23 Korea FTA contractual service suppliers and independent professionals
- F33was T24 Korea FTA intra-company transferee: executive or senior manager
- F34was T24 Korea FTA intra-company transferee: management trainee
- F35was T24 Korea FTA intra-company transferee: specialized knowledge
- F36was T25 Korea FTA spouses and common-law partners
- F42was T23 Panama FTA professionals
- F50was T21 Peru FTA traders
- F51was T22 Peru FTA investors
- F52was T23 Peru FTA professionals and technicians
- F53was T24 Peru FTA intra-company transferee: executive or senior manager
- F54was T24 Peru FTA intra-company transferee: management trainee
- F55was T24 Peru FTA intra-company transferee: specialized knowledge
- T33 GATS professionals
- T46 CETA (EU) investors
- T47 CETA contractual service suppliers
- T48 CETA engineering and scientific technologists
- T43 CETA independent professionals
- T44 CETA intra-company transferee: executive or senior manager
- T42was T44 CETA intra-company transferee: graduate trainee
- T41was T44 CETA intra-company transferee: specialized knowledge
- T45 CETA spouses and common-law partners of intra-company transferees
- T50 CPTPP investors
- T51 CPTPP intra-company transferee: executive or senior manager
- T54was T51 CPTPP intra-company transferee: management trainee
- T55was T51 CPTPP intra-company transferee: specialized knowledge
- T52 CPTPP professionals and technicians
- T53 CPTPP spouses
- F60was T43 UK independent professionals
- F61was T44 UK intra-company transferee: executive or senior manager
- F62was T44 UK intra-company transferee: management trainee
- F63was T44 UK intra-company transferee: specialized knowledge
- F64was T45 UK spouses of intra-company transferees
- F65was T46 UK investors
- F66was T47 UK contractual service suppliers
- F67was T48 UK engineering and scientific technologists
- F70 Canada–Ukraine FTA (CUFTA) investors
- F71 CUFTA intra-company transferees (also F74)
- F72 CUFTA professionals
Canada–province agreements
Youth mobility
- C21 International Experience Canada (Working Holiday, Young Professionals, International Co-op) Guide →
Significant benefit to Canada
- C10 Significant benefit, general (and unique cases such as airline security guards, interns, rail workers, UN experts, Quebec physicians)
- C11 Entrepreneurs and self-employed business owners seeking only temporary residence (and fishing guides, camp owners, race jockeys) Guide →
- C60was C11 Provincial business candidates, or Quebec self-employed with a CSQ Guide →
- C62was C12 Intra-company transferee: executive, senior or functional manager of an existing business
- C63was C12 Intra-company transferee: specialized knowledge
- C61was C12 Intra-company transferee opening a new branch or affiliate in Canada
- C13 Emergency repair or repair personnel for out-of-warranty equipment
- C14 Essential workers for the production stage of television and film
- C15 Rural Community and Francophone Community Immigration Pilots (and the former Rural and Northern pilot) Guide →
- C17 Spouses of rural and francophone community pilot workers Guide →
- A71 Live-in caregivers whose permanent residence application is submitted Guide →
- C90 Caregivers with a submitted PR application (occupation-restricted open work permit) Guide →
- C91 Spouses and adult dependants of those caregivers Guide →
- A73was A75 Certain CSQ holders currently in Quebec Guide →
- A74 Spouses or family-class applicants applying from inside Canada (public policy) Guide →
- A75 Bridging open work permit (BOWP), and PR facilitation for caregivers and the Yukon Community Pilot Guide →
- A76 CSQ holders currently outside Quebec Guide →
- A77was A75 Start-up Visa (business class) PR applicants
Reciprocal employment
- C20 Reciprocal employment, general (and border lake fishing guides, US government family members)
- C24was C20 Residential summer camp counsellors
- C26was C20 Coaches and athletes
- C22 Academic exchanges: professors and visiting lecturers
- C23 Performing arts
Research, study and competitiveness
- C31 Research
- C32 Co-op work placements, post-secondary
- C33 Co-op work placements, secondary school
- C16 Francophone Mobility Guide →
- C41 Spouses or common-law partners of skilled workers (TEER 0 to 3) Guide →
- C42 Spouses or common-law partners of full-time students Guide →
- C43 Post-graduation work permit (PGWP) Guide →
- C44 Post-doctoral fellows
- C45 Medical or dental residents and medical research fellows
- C46 Dependent children of skilled workers (TEER 0 to 3)
- C47 Spouses or common-law partners of workers in TEER 4 or 5 Guide →
- C48 Dependent children of workers in TEER 4 or 5
- C49was C41 Family members of economic-class PR applicants
- C52was C44 Academic award recipients
- C88 Innovation Stream pilot
Charitable or religious work
- C50 Religious work
- C51was C50 Charitable work
No other means of support
- S61 Refugee claimants Guide →
- S62 People under an unenforceable removal order
Permanent residence applicants in Canada
- A70 Spouse or common-law partner in Canada class (after eligibility is approved), protected persons, humanitarian and compassionate applicants, and their family members in Canada Guide →
Vulnerable workers
- A72 Workers experiencing abuse, or at risk of it, in their job, and their family members Guide →
Humanitarian reasons
- H81 Destitute students
- H82 Holders of a temporary resident permit valid for at least 6 months Guide →
No code matches that. Describe your situation and we will tell you which exemption fits, if any.
Ask an RCIC →How it works
A code is a claim, not an approval.
For an employer-specific exempt permit, this is the order things happen in. Open work permits (C41, C43, A70, A75 and similar) skip the employer steps.
The employer picks the code
The offer of employment is submitted in IRCC's Employer Portal under the exemption that fits the job and the worker.
The employer pays the fee
The employer compliance fee is paid with the offer, and the worker receives the offer of employment number.
The worker applies
The work permit application quotes that number; the exemption code is filled in from the offer.
An officer decides
The officer checks that the worker and the job really meet the exemption. A wrong code is one of the quickest ways to a refusal.
Source: Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, LMIA exemption codes, International Mobility Program (page modified 23 September 2026). Category names are shortened here; the officer instructions for each code set the actual requirements. CHK Immigration Services is a licensed RCIC firm, not part of IRCC.
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eligibility review
Find out where you actually stand.
Send a few details. A licensed RCIC reads your profile personally, then replies with the routes that genuinely fit, the ones that do not, and the consultation fee and next available times.
- 01Read personally by a CICC-licensed consultant
- 02A written shortlist of the programs you qualify for
- 03Fee-based; the fee and times come by reply
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. Prefer to talk first? Call 647-948-7200 or book a paid consultation.