LMIA Processing Time in BC: What to Expect

A Labour Market Impact Assessment is the employer's application, decided by Employment and Social Development Canada, and it comes before the worker's permit application to IRCC. Two clocks run in sequence, and the first is the one employers ask about most.

ESDC publishes average processing times for each LMIA stream and updates them monthly. This note explains what decides the stream, what slows a file and why the recruitment period before filing often matters more than the queue itself.

This applies to British Columbia employers hiring or keeping a foreign worker who needs an LMIA-supported work permit, and to workers whose permit or PR plan depends on that LMIA.

The stream follows the wage. ESDC compares the offered hourly wage with British Columbia's hourly wage threshold, which is the provincial median wage plus 20 percent and is published on its median wage page: $38.40 for applications received from July 17, 2026. A wage at or above the threshold goes through the high-wage stream; a wage below it goes through the low-wage stream. Each stream has its own conditions: high-wage files need a transition plan showing how the employer will reduce reliance on foreign workers, and low-wage files carry caps on the share of the workforce that can be foreign and extra obligations on transport and housing.

Before filing, the employer normally has to advertise the job on Job Bank and through at least two other methods, within the three months before applying: for at least 4 consecutive weeks for a high-wage job, and since April 1, 2026 for at least 8 consecutive weeks, with outreach to youth, for a low-wage job. The employer keeps the recruitment record. That period is not part of ESDC's published time, and it is where most timelines slip. Once filed, ESDC may request more information or interview the employer, and either adds time.

A positive LMIA is valid for a limited period, usually six months, and the worker's permit application to IRCC follows, with its own processing time in IRCC's tool. Some situations do not need an LMIA at all; IRCC's LMIA exemption page lists the International Mobility Program categories.

As of this review in October 2026, ESDC continues to refuse to process low-wage LMIAs in census metropolitan areas where the unemployment rate is six percent or higher, a rule introduced in September 2024, and caps low-wage foreign workers at a small share of a worksite's staff with exceptions for some sectors. ESDC updates the list of affected regions every three months, so employers should check ESDC's current list before planning a low-wage hire.

Common mistakes include advertising for less than the required period or with a wage below the posted rate, choosing the stream on the wrong wage figure, filing in a metropolitan area that is currently closed to low-wage files, letting the LMIA expire before the worker applies, and assuming the worker can start before the permit is issued.

Cancord reviews the wage and stream, the recruitment record, the transition plan or low-wage obligations, the timing between the LMIA and the work permit, and whether an LMIA-exempt category would fit the employer and the worker better.