2021 LMIA: Hire Seasonal Agricultural Farm Worker

Positive Labour Market Impact Assessment

The employer will receive a letter confirming the approval of the LMIA application. This positive LMIA is valid for 6 months from the date of issue.

For privacy reasons, the letter will not include the names of the TFWs. However, it provides specific details about the job offer, such as the wages, working conditions and occupations as well as a system file number. The names of the workers will appear in Annex B which is intended for the employer’s records only, and is not to be shared with the TFW as it is not required for the purposes of applying for a work permit.

Once the positive LMIA letter is received, it is the employer’s responsibility to send a copy of this letter and the employment contract, signed by the employer, to the foreign governments’ Ministry of Labour.

Changing a TFW name on a positive LMIA

If there is a requirement to change the name of a TFW on an LMIA, the name change request must be received before the LMIA’s expiry date in order to be processed by Service Canada.

Processing times vary depending on the total amount of names to be changed:

• 10 names or less – 15 business days, or
• more than 10 names – 20 business days

The original LMIA expiry date will not change.

The employer must send a completed Request to add or remove a Foreign National’s name form (ESDC-EMP5661) to Service Canada, either by fax or email to the processing centre that initially processed the LMIA.

Work permit

IRCC will then assess the TFW’s work permit application. If the assessment is positive, the TFW will receive a work permit to be able to work for a SAWP employer, under established working conditions. A work permit can be valid from January 1 to December 15, however, it cannot exceed a maximum duration of employment of 8 months.

Some countries may require that their citizens meet certain conditions if they want to work in Canada. Employers should:

• ask the TFW to verify if additional conditions apply
• contact the consulate of the foreign worker’s country in Canada, or
• visit the consulate’s Web site

Once the TFW arrives in Canada, the employer must:

• ensure that the worker is authorized to work and check the duration of the work permit
• verify that the TFW’s work permit indicates that it is for a job under the SAWP, and
• keep records of the number of regular and overtime hours the TFW has worked on a weekly/monthly basis

Revocation of a Labour Market Impact Assessment

The revocation of an LMIA means overturning the decision based on new information, which changes the opinion from positive to negative.

An LMIA may be revoked if it has not yet expired, work permits have not been issued by IRCC, and if one or more of the following circumstances apply:

• the employer has provided materially false or misleading information
• new facts or information are brought forward after a positive LMIA has been issued, that would have changed the assessment of the application, resulting in a negative LMIA, or
• the opinion was based on an unintentional error as to some material fact

The revocation of an LMIA is based on reliable and documented evidence that confirms that the new information or altered circumstances would have had an impact on the assessment of the factors listed under section 203 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR).