LMIA Advertising

For the following positions, the job advertising requirement is either discarded or facilitated. LMIA will still be needed. However,  in some sense it will be easier and faster to apply to hire the following categories of foreign workers:

• Active business owners and operators. No advertisement or recruitment is required. A business owner or operator is the one who is a sole proprietor or a shareholder of a minimum of 50.1% of the shares. Therefore, they own a controlling interest in the company and can not be dismissed.

• Academics. An academic is an individual with at least one postgraduate degree (following a Bachelor’s degree) who earns the majority of their income from teaching or conducting research as employees at universities and university colleges in Canada. No advertisement or recruitment is required for second or third LMIA applications for a university professor in a tenure track position.

• Collective bargaining agreement that stipulates internal recruitment. This is related to advertisement of a position covered by a Collective Bargaining Agreement, which stipulates only internal recruitment. In this case, internal posting will suffice. However, all members of the Collective Bargaining Unit must have an opportunity to apply for the position.

• Entertainment sector. No advertisement or recruitment is required if a worker will be hired for a very limited number of days, in a specific location, and on very short notice. Usually, it is a case for the following jobs: boxers, bar bands, DJs, musicians, singers, film directors and first assistant directors for feature films and commercials, key actors, artists, film or television crew for short productions and commercials. This is not an exhaustive list of occupations in the entertainment sector.

• Hiring by a foreign government or organization in Canada. No advertisement or recruitment is required if a position is with an international organization or the mission of a foreign government in Canada. They can select foreign nationals according to their own processes and requirements.

• In-Home Caregiver. Advertisement is required. However, employers are not required to list home addresses and full names on the job advertisement. Rather, they need to specify information about the location of work and only first name or another identifier.

• Primary agriculture positions using the streams for high-wage or low-wage positions. Job advertisement must be posted for a minimum of 14 calendar days on Job Bank and at least 1 additional method either national in scope (if for high-wage positions) or targeting an underrepresented group (if for low-wage positions).

• Positions for a short duration – 30 or fewer days. No advertisement or recruitment is required if: job duration is for 30 days or less, a temporary foreign worker need to be hired on short notice, the job will no longer exist after the worker leaves, and there is no opportunity to train a Canadian or a permanent resident because the position requires specialized/proprietary knowledge to ensure the safe and efficient provision or operation of machinery or equipment.

• Religion instructors in a faith-based independent school (NOC 4217 – Other Religious Occupations). Job advertisements must be posted for a minimum of four weeks within three months prior to applying for an LMIA on Job Bank or church publications. It is only applicable to situations where the provincial or territorial Ministry of Education delegates to the independent school the ability to establish the qualifications of their instructors based on religion.

• Seasonal Agricultural Workers (only for the Province of Quebec)

• Seasonal Agricultural Workers. Re-advertisement is not required to hire a replacement worker in the same region and occupation as in the previous LMIA. Advertisement is not required to transfer LMIA application in the same region and occupation.

• Agricultural Stream Workers. Re-advertisement is not required to hire a replacement worker if the position remains in the same region and occupation as in the previous positive LMIA.

• Specialized service technicians/specialized service providers. No advertisement or recruitment is required if the work requires a specialist with proprietary knowledge or experience, the duration of the work is limited, and there is no opportunity for Canadians to be trained. For example, equipment manufactured outside of Canada and there is no licensee in Canada who can perform the service required for it.

• Warranty work. No advertising or recruitment is required if installation, inspection or repair of equipment are under warranty, and the manufacturer designates skilled workers under the warranty.

• Maritime Sector – Coasting Trade. No advertising or recruitment is required for a position on board a foreign vessel undertaking coasting trade within Canadian waters in the following circumstances: the work duration is 30 days or less, and no previous requests for an LMIA have been submitted; a labour organization provides a letter of concurrence that qualified Canadians/permanent residents are not available for the position and justification and where practical, supporting documents.

• Certificate of Selection from Quebec. Employers can be exempted from the recruitment and advertising requirement only if Service Canada determines, during the assessment of the LMIA application, that the National Occupational Classification (NOC) code used for the job offer and the description of the position is the same as the NOC code found on the CSQ.

• Air pilots, flight engineers and flying instructors (NOC 2271). In addition to minimum advertisement requirements described above, employers must specify the following criteria in their job postings: no more than a maximum of 4,000 flight hours for a First Officer and 5,000 hours for a Captain as required experience; possess a valid commercial pilots’ license; require English and/or French language proficiency; include industry-standard medical testing requirements for commercial flight; state both the legal and common names of the airline operating in Canada; not include as an essential or asset requirement the necessity of holding a type rating for a specific type of aircraft; indicate when training bonds will be applied and they must cover a minimum of two years employment .

• Camp counsellors in Ontario. An employer must prove efforts to hire Canadian campers from the previous year and a commitment in writing and pursue spring recruitment campaigns in post-secondary institutions and high schools.

• Employer associations. Organization of employers generally from the same industry may work together for the interests of all member companies. Such an association can be authorized to advertise on behalf of its members. In that case, a signed Appointment of Representative form and a report on recruitment efforts must be additionally submitted. If an association advertises for more than one job than an advertisement must include the wage range for each job and location.

• Maritime Sector – Coasting Trade. Employers who do not qualify for the exemption or waiver of advertising and recruitment must submit a copy of the recruitment letter or email sent to the Seafarers’ International Union of Canada (SIU) at crewing@seafarers.ca, and a letter or email of concurrence from the maritime labour organization stating that there are or are not qualified Canadians/permanent residents available for the position, and meet all High-wage or Low-wage stream recruitment and advertising requirements.