LMIA! Do you have questions?

Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) formerly known as Labour Market Opinion (LMO) is always confused with a job offer and is one of the most “misused” term when it comes to applying a work permit or PR based on a valid job offer.

LMIA is a document issued by Service Canada/Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) to an eligible employer who intends to hire a skilled worker from outside Canada. The employer needs to prove they did what they could do best to hire an employee from within Canada but could not find a suitable candidate. The employer advertises the opening, puts necessary recruitment efforts, conducts interviews and IF a suitable candidate was not found, the employer submits an application to ESDC, who then decides if hiring an employee from outside Canada will have a positive, negative or neutral “impact” on the local labour market.

Work permit or PR?

Once an LMIA is issued the candidate has two options depending on the LMIA issued, the candidate can either submit a work permit application or a Permanent Residence (PR) application.

An LMIA that supports a PR application is generally called a dual intent LMIA. The employer has to declare that they intend to support the candidate’s PR application as well.

How many points for an LMIA?

Once you have a job offer supported by a positive LMIA, you can get either 50 points or 200 points in Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) in Express Entry, depending on the skill level. For a job at a skill level 00, you get 200 points and for a job at a skill level 0, A or B you get 50 points. If you have questions regarding skill levels of jobs or particularly National Occupational Classification (NOC), you can refer to: https://www.bedrockimmigration.com/post/know-your-noc

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Disclaimer: While we have made every attempt to ensure that the information contained here is correct and easy to understand, the author is not responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the uses of this information. Always check and reconfirm before making any decision. You may verify the information at https://www.canada.ca/home.html

Author: Harman Batth is a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant with membership number R707212. Status of an RCIC can be verified through ICCRC's website here: https://iccrc-crcic.ca/find-a-professional/

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