Business Legitimacy for LMIA Sponsoring Company
Note:
Effective June 10, 2020 and until further notice, for all pending and future LMIAs, the assessment of business legitimacy will consider restrictions placed on businesses due to COVID-19.
Information from the application, employer, provincial/territorial websites, and media sources will be used to determine if the business is considered essential or subject to restrictions. Any restrictions that affect the operation of a business at the time of assessment will be reviewed. If these restrictions prevent the foreign worker from immediately performing their job duties, this could negatively affect the LMIA decision.
In addition to the above COVID considerations, Service Canada will also assess business legitimacy as described below.
The requirement for additional supporting documents to demonstrate that your business and job offer are legitimate is dependent on your history with the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program and the type of LMIA application you are submitting.
To find out if you are required to submit business legitimacy documentation please review the following statements:
- I have received a positive LMIA decision in the past 2 years, and
- my most recent LMIA decision was positive
If you answer “no” to either of these statements then you must supply supporting documents along with your application to demonstrate that your business and job offer are legitimate.
If you answer “yes” to both of these statements then you may be exempt from providing some or all supporting documents.
Note: At any time, Service Canada reserves the right to request additional documents to complete a business legitimacy assessment.
Please read the information below to determine if additional documents are required to support your LMIA application.
We assess the Labour Market Impact Assessment application and supporting documents to confirm that your business:
Before applying for a Labour Market Impact Assessment, you must ensure that you do not have past compliance issues with federal or provincial laws regulating employment or the recruitment of employees. Your past compliance will be assessed and any issues may negatively impact your application.
Canada Revenue Agency documents
Employers must protect their employees’ personal information, especially Social Insurance Numbers, from theft and misuse. Be sure to redact or blackout all social insurance numbers if you are submitting CRA documents as part of your Labour Market Impact Assessment application package.
You must include your most recent documents from the Canada Revenue Agency if you are submitting them as part of your Labour Market Impact Assessment application package.
Compliance with federal or provincial/territorial laws
You must comply with federal or provincial/territorial laws that regulate the employment or recruitment of employees in the province or territory in which the foreign national works. During LMIA assessment, Service Canada will check to see if the employer has had any compliance issues. Moreover, in the event of inspections, Service Canada may request relevant proof or documentation to demonstrate or corroborate the employer’s compliance.
If you are an employer hiring temporary foreign workers in British Columbia or Manitoba, you must include a copy of provincial employer registration certificate or proof of exemption with your LMIA application.
- Your LMIA application will not be considered complete if submitted without the required documentation
- You may want to take into account the processing times in the provinces before you submit your LMIA applications
For more information about provincial laws on the employer registration requirement and possible exemptions in British Columbia and Manitoba, please visit the following websites:
- British Columbia:
- Provincial website: Register to hire foreign workers
- Provincial law: Temporary Foreign Worker Protection Act
- Manitoba:
- Provincial website: Employer Registration Information
- Provincial law: Worker Recruitment and Protection Act
Ability to fulfill terms of the job offer
If you have received a positive LMIA decision in the past two years and your most recent LMIA decision was positive then you are not required to provide documents that support your ability to fulfill the terms of the job offer with your LMIA application.
All Other Employers: To demonstrate that you can meet the conditions of the job offer, you must submit at least one of the following documents:
- T2 Schedule 100 Balance sheet information and T2 Schedule 125 Income statement information
- T2042 Statement of farming activities (redact social insurance number)
- T2125 Statement of business or professional activities (redact social insurance number)
- T3010 Registered charity information return
- T4 or payroll records for a minimum of 6 weeks immediately prior to the submission of this LMIA application, if the temporary foreign worker already works for you (redact social insurance number)
- an attestation confirming that your business is in good financial standing and will be able to meet all financial obligations to any temporary foreign worker you hire for the entire duration of their employment
- if you are a foreign employer without a Canada Revenue Agency number whose business address and operation is outside of Canada, you may submit your contract or invoice for the goods or services that you are providing in Canada
For all trucking applications:
Regardless of your history with the TFWP, if you are submitting LMIA applications for trucking positions, you must submit the following documents with your application:
- Current copy of your carrier profile / public profile document
- National safety certificate number, and
- Current fleet insurance
For all private household employers:
Regardless of your history with the TFWP, you must provide your most recent Canada Revenue Agency notice of assessment (NOA) and documentation showing your income exceeds the low income cut-off (LICO) produced by Statistics Canada if you are a family or private household hiring a worker. (Submit previous year NOA if LMIA application is submitted after July 1st. Submit a rationale for consideration if, due to an extraordinary circumstance, the most recent year NOA is not available).
