LMIA — the wage decides everything else.
One number — the hourly wage you offer — sets your stream, your advertising period, your worksite cap, and whether your application can be processed at all. Check it before you spend $1,000 a position.
Stream checker
Which rulebook applies to your position? Three answers.
The same job can be a straightforward high-wage file in one province and an unprocessable low-wage file in another. Work it out before recruitment starts, because the advertising period you need depends on the answer.
Your position
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The thresholds
Every province and territory. In effect July 17, 2026.
Set at the provincial or territorial median hourly wage plus 20%, from Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey. Applications received before that date are assessed on the previous figures, which had stood since June 27, 2025.
| Province / territory | Threshold now | Previous | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alberta | $37.50 | $36.00 | +1.50 |
| British Columbia | $38.40 | $36.60 | +1.80 |
| Manitoba | $31.33 | $30.16 | +1.17 |
| New Brunswick | $31.73 | $30.00 | +1.73 |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | $33.60 | $32.40 | +1.20 |
| Northwest Territories | $48.00 | $48.00 | unchanged |
| Nova Scotia | $31.96 | $30.00 | +1.96 |
| Nunavut | $45.00 | $42.00 | +3.00 |
| Ontario | $36.92 | $36.00 | +0.92 |
| Prince Edward Island | $31.20 | $30.00 | +1.20 |
| Quebec | $36.00 | $34.62 | +1.38 |
| Saskatchewan | $34.62 | $33.60 | +1.02 |
| Yukon | $45.60 | $44.40 | +1.20 |
The threshold decides which stream applies — it is not the wage you must pay. The prevailing wage for the occupation at that location sets the floor. It is the higher of two figures: the median wage for that NOC and location on Job Bank, or the wage range you already pay employees doing the same job, at the same location, with the same skills and experience. ESDC treats a wage adjusted purely to reach a preferred stream as grounds for a negative decision. Confirm the current figures on canada.ca before filing.
What changed
The program has been rewritten twice this year. Old checklists will fail.
Median hourly wage plus 20%, in 12 of 13 jurisdictions. Positions that were high-wage in June may be low-wage now.
Advertising extended to eight consecutive weeks, youth-targeted recruitment required, and the worksite cap tightened in most cases.
Proof of advertisement submission is required again with primary agriculture LMIA applications.
Quebec runs a second set of rules on top of the federal ones
Until December 31, 2026, certain low-wage LMIA applications in the Montréal and Laval economic regions will not be processed at all, with sector exemptions that include child daycare services. Because the Montréal CMA also sits above the federal unemployment line, an application there can be caught twice over.
Quebec files additionally require provincial acceptance alongside the federal LMIA. Treat a Quebec work location as a different process, not a variation on the same one.
Side by side
The two streams are not variations. They are different programs.
High-wage stream
At or above the threshold
- 4 consecutive weeks of advertising within the three months before you file
- Transition plan generally required — measurable commitments to reduce reliance on the program over time
- No worksite cap on the proportion of foreign workers
- Not subject to the CMA unemployment refusal-to-process measure
- Longer maximum work permit duration than the low-wage stream
Low-wage stream
Below the threshold
- 8 consecutive weeks of advertising since April 1, 2026, plus documented youth-targeted recruitment
- 10% cap on low-wage foreign workers at the worksite, but 20% in construction, food manufacturing, hospitals and nursing or residential care, and in the in-home caregiver NOCs. Fewer than 10 employees at the site: 1 worker, or 2 where the 20% cap applies. Temporarily 15% for employers outside a CMA in participating provinces only (MB, NB, NL, NS, NT), to March 31, 2027
- Refused to process in any CMA at 6% unemployment or above, unless exempt
- Transportation and housing obligations apply
- Maximum work permit duration currently one year
Exemptions from refusal-to-process. Certain positions are processed regardless of the local unemployment rate:
After the approval
A positive LMIA is a set of promises. They are inspectable for six years.
Wage, duties, hours, location, and the conditions you committed to are all enforceable, and ESDC inspections have been rising alongside the program's tightening. Findings run from warnings to administrative monetary penalties, a public list of non-compliant employers, and bans from the program — which end your ability to hire this way at all.
We check the offered wage against the current threshold for your province and the status of your work location, so you know which rulebook applies before the fee is paid.
Eight consecutive weeks for low-wage, four for high-wage, with the mandatory platforms and the youth-targeted efforts documented as you go — not reconstructed afterwards.
Title, NOC, duties, hours, wage and location consistent across the offer, the advertisement, the LMIA and the eventual work permit. Inconsistency is the most common single failure.
The offered wage justified against the rate for that occupation and location — not adjusted to reach a preferred stream, which ESDC treats as grounds for a negative decision.
Where you sit against the worksite cap, and whether the position falls inside one of the listed exemptions from refusal-to-process.
The conditions you have just agreed to are inspectable for six years. We set up the records before an inspection asks for them.
Next steps
The LMIA is one half of the hire. Here is the other.
A positive LMIA does not authorise anyone to work. The worker still has to be approved, and that application can fail on its own terms.
Work permitsIf you want the worker to stay, the PR pathway should shape the job offer now — not be retrofitted two years later.
Express Entry & PNPA negative LMIA has no appeal. The route is a corrected re-application, and it starts with understanding exactly what failed.
RefusalsGet the stream right before recruitment starts.
Advertising for the wrong period, in the wrong places, cannot be fixed later — it has to be run again from the beginning. A short employer consultation confirms your stream, your obligations and your realistic timeline. Brampton, London, or remotely anywhere in Canada.
Reviewed August 2026 — general information only, not legal advice, and no consultant–client relationship is created by reading this page. Wage thresholds, the CMA list and program requirements change on their own schedules; the CMA list alone is revised quarterly. Confirm current figures on canada.ca before filing. Figures shown reflect ESDC data published July 2026.
LMIA review
Does your employer need an LMIA at all?
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.
- Read personally by a CICC-licensed consultant — never a bot, never a salesperson
- A written shortlist of the programs you realistically qualify for
- Consultations are fee-based; you get the fee and available times 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.