The new Labour Market Impact Assessment has recently come into place to replace the Labour Market Opinion. If you wish to hire a foreign worker to Canada, you will need to apply under this revamped program to do so.
If successful in obtaining a positive assessment, you will be able to use this in support of your potential foreign worker. Prior to these changes, there used to be several categories of employment that you could apply under. Now, as there has been a definite shift in focus, there are essentially two main categories under which you, as an employer, can apply:
- High Wage Labour Market Impact Assessments; and
- Low Wage Labour Market Impact Assessments
Clearly, the focus of the Labour Market Impact Assessment hinges on wages while as its predecessor, the Labour Market Opinion, focus on intended job duties in Canada.
That being said, prospective employers are faced with the hard fact that, if they are to be successful in obtaining foreign help for their business, they may need to surpass the average wage for the intended occupation.
In layman’s terms, the more an employer is willing to pay the prospective foreign worker above the norm, the higher their chances for success are.
Low Wage Labour Market Impact Assessments
- Can be offered for shorter durations, giving the employer the opportunity to offer yearlong contracts;
- Organizations more than ten people strong can only be comprised of 10% of foreign work force.
- Ten lower skilled occupations in the food service industry have been removed from eligibility;
- There is an increased application fee of $1000.00, the same applies for the High Wage Labour Market Impact Assessments
High Wage Labour Market Impact Assessments
- The application process for such positions are far more in depth and complex;
- Part of the process is the submission of a transition plan which basically outlines how the employer intends to permanently fill the job with the foreign worker;
- Employers are required to keep detailed record of the foreign worker’s stay in Canada;
- There may be a cap issued on such applications but this is not confirmed;
- As for the Low Wage process, application fees have jumped to $1000.00.