2021 LMIA: Hire Seasonal Agricultural Farm Worker
Note: There are no work permit fees when transferring TFWs between employers. The fees have already been paid prior to the workers’ arrival in Canada.
Illegal transfer of workers
Employers cannot informally transfer or share TFWs from one employer to another. These actions contravene sections 124(1)(c) and 125 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA). These practices are punishable by a fine of up to $50,000 and imprisonment.
Business legitimacy
Employers applying must supply documents to demonstrate that their business and job offer are legitimate.
Work permit fees
Seasonal agricultural workers are responsible to pay for their work permit fees directly to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
Third-party representatives
Employers may use the services of a third-party, but are not required to do so. The third party is a person or an organization who may represent them in completing a SAWP application. Employers who choose to use the services of a third party must pay all associated fees and meet all requirements.
Representatives assist employers by providing services, such as:
- explaining and providing advice on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP)
- completing and submitting the application form and all required documents
- communicating with ESDC/Service Canada on the employer’s behalf
- representing the employer during the application process
Employers who wish to use the services of a third-party representative, paid or unpaid, must complete the appropriate section of the LMIA application form. Employers must identify their representative and not simply the firm/organization employing this person.
Paid representatives
Paid representatives represent or assist employers in exchange for compensation (money, goods or services). These representatives must be authorized under section 91 of IRPA. They must be members in good standing:
- a Canadian provincial/territorial law society, or a student-at-law under its supervision
- the Chambre des notaires du Québec
- the Province of Ontario’s law society as a paralegal
- the Immigration Consultants of Canada Regulatory Council (ICCRC)
Representatives must detain authorization to represent employers or to give them advice on immigration matters. Employers should consult the IRCC website to verify the authorization of a specific representative.
If a paid representative does not have proper authorization under the IRPA, ESDC/Service Canada will continue to process the application, but will communicate with the employer directly. The employer will be required to submit a copy of a signed letter stating that they will no longer use the services of the original representative. Employers must provide this letter before they can:
- hire another paid authorized representative
- work with an unpaid representative
3. Wages, working conditions and occupations
You must provide temporary foreign workers with the same wages and benefits as those provided to Canadian and permanent resident employees working in the same occupation. In addition, temporary foreign workers working in a unionized environment must be paid the wage rate as established under the collective bargaining agreement.
If you plan to hire temporary foreign workers in non-livestock high-skilled positions, you must consult the Streams for High-wage or Low-wage positions to determine the wage.
Employers must agree to review and adjust the wage of the temporary foreign worker to ensure it meets or exceeds, at all times, the wage rates outlined in the wage tables, or applicable federal/provincial/territorial minimum wage rates, whichever is higher.
- apiary products
- fruits, vegetables (including on-farm canning/processing of these products if grown on the farm)
- mushrooms
- flowers
- nursery-grown trees including Christmas trees, greenhouses/nurseries
- pedigreed canola seed
- seed corn
- grains
- oil seeds
- maple syrup
- sod
- tobacco
- bovine
- dairy
- duck
- horse
- mink
- poultry
- sheep
- swine
4. Recruitment and advertisement
Employers are required to conduct recruitment efforts to hire Canadians and permanent residents, before offering a job to TFWs.
Note:
Due to economic impacts such as higher unemployment rates resulting from COVID-19, recruitment and advertisement requirements have been updated. Recruitment efforts are required to take place under the current labour market to ensure Canadians and Permanent Residents continue to be considered first for available jobs. This update applies to pending LMIAs received prior to June 15, 2020, and includes the following:
- Any ads posted before March 15, 2020 may need to be re-posted for an additional two consecutive weeks.
- If applicable, Service Canada will contact you regarding re-advertising requirements.
- When re-advertising, employers must also meet all the minimum recruitment requirements described in the Advertisement section below.
Recruitment
Recruitment is the process of finding and selecting qualified employees. All employers are encouraged to conduct ongoing recruitment efforts, including advertising the job or contacting the underrepresented groups that face barriers to employment.
