LMIA Cost for Employers: What You Pay, Line by Line

The LMIA cost for employers starts with one government fee: $1,000 for each position requested. That is the only price printed on the application. The rest of the bill comes from obligations the program puts on you, and several of them can never be passed on to the worker.

Here is every line, who may not be charged for it, and what Quebec adds. All figures are in Canadian dollars and were checked on October 16, 2026.

What does the LMIA application itself cost?

$1,000 per position requested. ESDC states the same fee for high-wage positions, low-wage positions and the Global Talent Stream. Ask for three positions and the fee is $3,000.

You pay by Visa, MasterCard or American Express, or by certified cheque, money order or bank draft payable to the Receiver General for Canada. For applications with 6 or more positions, ESDC may invite you to pay by online banking. If that happens, wait for the payment instructions before you send anything.

Can you charge any of it to the worker?

No. The fee cannot be paid by the worker or recovered from the worker.

The same goes for a paid third-party representative: you must not recover those costs from the worker. And if you charge recruitment fees to workers, directly or indirectly, ESDC says the result is a negative LMIA.

Is the fee refundable?

Not if you withdraw, cancel or receive a negative LMIA. ESDC refunds the fee only if it was collected in error.

Two cases catch employers out:

• Cancelling the job offer before the worker enters Canada. You should tell the Employer Contact Centre and the worker, but the fee is not reimbursed.
• Switching streams. On the Global Talent Stream page, ESDC says the fee is not refunded if you choose a different Temporary Foreign Worker Program stream.

Is anyone exempt from the fee?

A few cases are, and they are narrow.

• Certain in-home caregiver cases, for care of a person who needs medical assistance and has a medical certificate.
• Childcare for a child under 13, for families or individuals with a gross annual income of $150,000 or less.
• Certain on-farm primary agriculture positions, listed by NOC code.

Check the requirements page for your stream before you assume you qualify.

What other costs does the employer carry?

Costs that ESDC’s pages require you to cover, and in most cases forbid you to recover from the worker. ESDC gives no amount for any of them.

• Private health insurance for emergency medical care, in the provinces and territories where it applies, for any period the worker is not covered by the public plan. It must start on the worker’s first day of work.
• Workplace safety insurance, where the law requires it.
• Round-trip transportation and suitable, affordable housing for low-wage positions. Our post on what the employer pays for housing, stream by stream compares the streams.
• Recruitment, advertising and representative fees. ESDC lists them among your costs. Keep the records for 6 years.
• Wages at the prevailing wage, overtime where the law requires it, and the same benefits as other workers. Our TFWP wage threshold guide explains the wage side.

What does Quebec add?

$233 per worker for Quebec’s own LMIA fee, and $233 more for the worker’s Quebec Acceptance Certificate (CAQ). Both apply since January 1, 2026, and Quebec adjusts its fees every January 1.

• Quebec LMIA fee: you pay it by credit card in Arrima when you submit. It is not refundable, even if Quebec refuses the application, if the federal government refuses to process it, or if you change streams.
• CAQ fee: Quebec says the worker or the employer may pay it.
• What you cannot do: Quebec prohibits making the worker pay for the LMIA or for compliance with it. Those costs, and recruitment costs, are yours entirely.

What if no LMIA is needed?

Then there is no LMIA fee, but there may be a $230 employer compliance fee.

IRCC says you pay it when you submit the offer of employment through the Employer Portal. If an LMIA is required, you do not pay it. Some employers are exempt.

What does it add up to?

$1,000 outside Quebec, and $1,233 in Quebec, before the costs ESDC does not price. These totals only add the lines above, for one position and one worker.

Insurance, advertising, travel, housing and representative fees come on top. The pages we reviewed show no announced change to the $1,000 fee. We review this post in February 2027.

How we can help

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

• Work out your real budget before you apply, including what the pages do not price
• Check which exemption, if any, applies to your position
• Avoid the mistakes that cost a fee, such as a wrong stream or a file withdrawn too late

If you want our LMIA team to review your numbers, start with a free assessment. And once you know the cost, our guide to the documents ESDC expects shows what the file needs.