LMIA Required Documents: The Full List, Recruitment Records Included

The LMIA required documents fall into four groups: proof that your business is real, proof that you can pay the worker, proof that you tried to hire in Canada first, and the job offer itself. Most employers have the first two in a drawer. The third has to be built over weeks, and it cannot be put together at the last minute.

This is the list as Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) publishes it today, plus what to keep once the LMIA is approved.

What are the core documents for an LMIA application?

A business licence, your most recent CRA tax documents, proof of your recruitment efforts and, in four provinces, a provincial registration. That is ESDC’s own short list for a high-wage position.

You upload them in LMIA Online, with your Job Bank for employers account. You can apply up to 6 months before the expected start date.

How do you prove the business is legitimate?

By showing that it provides a real good or service in Canada and can afford the job offer. ESDC says the offer must meet all four factors: a good or service in Canada, a reasonable need for the employee, the ability to fulfil the offer, and compliance with the law.

For the second proof, the tax form depends on the type of business:

For the good or service, corporations show a municipal business licence or the applicable permit.

If your most recent LMIA decision was positive and issued in the past 2 years, ESDC does not ask for these documents again, except from private households. Service Canada can still request more, and sending documents does not mean approval.

What recruitment records do you need?

Proof of every activity: where the ad ran, when, for how long, and who it reached. The minimum depends on the wage level.

• High-wage positions: at least 3 different recruitment activities. One is the Job Bank ad, and one must be national in scope. The ad runs for a minimum of 4 consecutive weeks within the 3 months before you apply.
• Low-wage positions: a Job Bank ad for a minimum of 8 consecutive weeks within the 3 months before you apply, plus at least 2 additional methods of recruitment.

For each one, keep a copy of the ad showing where, when and for how long it ran, proof that the site or publication reaches people with the right skills, and proof of any other activity, such as a job fair invoice.

The ad itself has to carry: your operating name and business address, job title and duties, terms of employment, language of work, wage (including raises, performance pay and bonuses), benefits, work location, contact details and skill requirements.

What else goes in the file?

The job offer paperwork, and a few items that depend on your situation.

• A signed employment agreement. ESDC asks you to commit to giving each foreign worker a completed, signed agreement on or before their first day of work.
• A transition plan. Mandatory for high-wage positions.
• Private health insurance. For high-wage positions, you must be able to show proof of payment for suitable private health insurance.
• The collective agreement. For a unionized position, the section on the wage structure.
• Your representative. If a third party files for you, the representative section of the form.
• A review for first-time employers. If you have not employed a temporary foreign worker in the past 6 years, your application is subject to an additional review.
• Provincial paperwork. In British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia, register with the province first and include the certificate or proof of exemption. In Quebec, for jobs lasting more than 30 consecutive days, you apply to Service Canada and Quebec’s immigration ministry (MIFI) at the same time.

What can get an LMIA file returned or refused?

ESDC publishes very few of these, so we report only what it states.

• A missing provincial registration (BC, MB, SK, NS): the application is considered incomplete.
• A business legitimacy factor not met: the LMIA decision is negative.
• A recruiter who charges workers fees: the LMIA is negative. You are responsible for anyone who recruits on your behalf.
• A refusal-to-process measure that applies to your position: ESDC tells you to check before applying.
• The fee: $1,000 per position, not refunded if the application is withdrawn, cancelled or negative.

ESDC’s pages do not list every reason a file is returned, and we are not going to guess at the rest.

What do you keep after approval?

Your recruitment and advertising records, for at least 6 years. ESDC says to keep all relevant records for 6 years from the first day of the employment period, and inspectors can look at how workers were treated up to 6 years after they started. Penalties can reach $100,000 per violation, up to $1 million a year.

Our post on LMIA processing times explains how long the file then takes.

How we can help

Workvantage has spent more than 19 years on the employer’s side of the LMIA. We help you:

• Check your recruitment plan against the minimums before you advertise
• Assemble and review the full file before it is submitted
• Keep the records that an inspection will ask for

If you want our LMIA team to review your file, start with a free assessment.