Employers Requiring LMIA Certification

Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) is a document issued by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) / Service Canada (SC). It gives the employer permission to hire a Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW). A positive LMIA indicates that there is no Canadian Citizen or Permanent Resident to do a job thereby allowing the employer to hire a TFW.

Employers may be inspected to ensure that they are compliant under the TFW program. Employers found non-compliant can be subject to monetary penalty and/or ban from hiring TFWs for some period.

To obtain a positive LMIA the employer needs certification from a Certified Professional Accountant (CPA). After the employer gets it, the worker can apply for a Work Permit. To certify, a CPA shall typically ask from the employer the following documents.

• Copies of their full Corporate Income Tax (CIT) return(s) filed lastly.
• Copies of corresponding Notices of Assessment.
• A copy of the HST return filed lastly.
• A copy of the corresponding NOA.
• A copy of their Annual Payroll Return filed lastly.
• A copy of their LMIA application.
• A copy of their articles of incorporation.

The employer should get these documents together before seeing a CPA.

Note: This publication should be considered general information and not professional advice.