Employers
This page is for families and facilities considering hiring from abroad. Read it before you commit, not after. The obligations set out here are not negotiable, and discovering them at the point of refusal costs the money already spent and several months.
The process, step by step
Each stage depends on the one before it. The durations shown are observed orders of magnitude, never commitments: they depend on the authorities, on how complete the file is, and on the time of year. Official processing times are published by the authorities themselves, and we check them for each file.
Defining the need
The exact nature of the position, duties, hours, place of work and pay conditions. A poorly defined position works against the employer at every later stage: the pay must match the position actually held, and the duties described must be the ones actually required.
Timeframe : One to two weeks
Checking your obligations
We go through, point by point, what falls to you: non-refundable fees, transport, housing, health insurance, and the fact that living in your home cannot be required. If any of these looks impossible for you to meet, now is the time to know — not after costs have been incurred.
Timeframe : One meeting
Local recruitment efforts
Before hiring from abroad, an employer must show they genuinely tried to fill the position locally: advertising the role through the required channels, for the required period, and keeping proof of those efforts along with the applications received. This step is frequently rushed, and it is one of the first the administration examines.
Timeframe : Several weeks, set by the programme
Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) application
Assembling and filing the application: the job description, proof of recruitment efforts, documents establishing the employer is genuine, and undertakings on the conditions of employment. The processing fee falls to you and is not refunded, whatever the outcome.
Timeframe : Several months depending on volumes
Work permit application by the candidate
Once the LMIA is obtained, the candidate files their work permit application, with biometrics and a medical examination. The permit issued is tied to you, as the named employer: the worker may work only for you, and changing employer requires a fresh process.
Timeframe : Several months, highly variable by country of filing
Arrival and start of work
The candidate travels after the permit is granted, never before. Your obligations on transport, housing and insurance apply from that moment, and the contract signed must match exactly the offer filed in the application.
Timeframe : A few weeks after the decision
Your legal obligations
These are conditions, not recommendations. An employer who cannot meet them cannot hire from abroad — and it is far better to realise that on this line than after incurring costs.
A non-refundable $1,000 LMIA fee
The processing fee for the Labour Market Impact Assessment falls to you, is $1,000 per position requested, and is refunded in no circumstances — including refusal, including if you abandon the recruitment. This fee may never be passed on to the worker, in any form.
Round-trip transport at your expense
Transporting the worker to the place of work and back is at your expense. This obligation cannot be shared with the worker, deducted from their wages, turned into a repayable advance, or made conditional on a minimum period of employment.
Suitable and affordable housing
You must ensure the worker has suitable and affordable housing. Accommodation found in haste, overcrowded, or whose rent would absorb an unreasonable share of the wage does not meet this obligation.
Private health insurance
You must provide the worker with private health insurance covering emergency care until they become eligible for the provincial health plan. The cost of that insurance cannot be deducted from their wages.
Living in your home cannot be required
You may offer the worker accommodation in your home. You cannot require it, make their refusal a condition of hiring, or treat it as a ground for dismissal. This is the most frequently breached point in private household employment, and one of the most heavily sanctioned.
What causes an LMIA to be refused
A refusal is not bad luck. In the great majority of cases it comes down to an identifiable and avoidable element of the file.
- Local recruitment efforts that are insufficient, poorly documented, or run for a shorter period than required.
- Pay below the going rate for that position in that region, or pay that does not match the duties actually described.
- Failure to meet, or to demonstrate meeting, any of the obligations above.
- A vague job offer, or one inconsistent with the position actually held: unclear duties, loose hours, uncertain place of work.
- An inability to establish that the employer's business is genuine, or that the position is genuinely needed.
- A previous failure by the employer to meet their obligations in an earlier recruitment.
- An incomplete or contradictory file, filed anyway to save time.
An employer who discovers these obligations at the point of refusal has lost their money and several months. That is why we set them out before any commitment, and why we decline files in which they are not accepted. A refusal avoided is worth more than an appeal.
Frequently asked questions from employers
- What does an LMIA application cost, and is it refundable?
- The processing fee is $1,000 per position requested, falls to the employer, and is refunded in no circumstances — including refusal. This fee may never be passed on to the worker.
- Can I ask the worker to contribute to travel costs?
- No. Round-trip transport is at your expense. This obligation cannot be shared with the worker, deducted from their wages, or turned into a repayable advance.
- Can I require the worker to live in my home?
- No. You may offer it; you cannot require it, nor make a refusal a condition of hiring or a ground for dismissal. This is the most frequently breached point in private household employment.
- Do I have to provide health insurance?
- Yes. You must provide private health insurance covering emergency care until the worker becomes eligible for the provincial plan. Its cost cannot be deducted from their wages.
- How long does the whole process take?
- Count in months across the whole chain: local recruitment efforts, LMIA processing, then the candidate's work permit application with biometrics and a medical examination. Official processing times are published and updated by the authorities, and vary considerably depending on where the candidate files. An observed timeframe is never a commitment: we check the current times for each file, and we promise no date.
Get in touch
Describe your need in a few lines. We reply by saying whether hiring from abroad is a suitable answer to your situation — including when the answer is no, which happens.
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