How Canadian Businesses Can Hire Internationally Without Getting It Wrong

You run a business in Canada. You have a role that needs to be filled, and despite your best efforts at local recruitment, you cannot find the right candidate. A contact overseas has exactly the skills you need. Or a supplier abroad knows someone who would be perfect.

The good news is that Canadian businesses can and do hire internationally. The process exists. It is more complex than hiring a Canadian, but it is navigable if you understand what is actually involved.

Start With the Honest Assessment: Do You Really Need a Foreign Worker?

Before investing time and money in the process, ask yourself a genuine question: have you exhausted Canadian recruitment channels? ESDC will ask you to prove this. The Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) process requires documented evidence that you actively recruited Canadian citizens and permanent residents and could not fill the role.

If you have not posted the job on the national Job Bank, on a major national job board for at least four weeks, and through at least one other recruitment method, the LMIA application will face challenges. The recruitment effort needs to be genuine and documented.

Understand the Two Main Pathways

The LMIA-Based Route

The first pathway is the LMIA-based route. You apply to ESDC for an LMIA, demonstrating that you tried to fill the role locally and could not. If approved, your foreign worker candidate uses the positive LMIA to apply for a work permit from IRCC. This is the standard route for most hires.

The LMIA Exemption

The second pathway is an LMIA exemption. Certain roles or workers are exempt from the LMIA requirement. These include intracompany transfers (if the worker is moving from a related company abroad), roles covered under international trade agreements, workers with specialized knowledge or significant benefit to Canada, and several other categories. LMIA-exempt work permits are faster and do not require the advertising period. Identifying whether your hire qualifies for an exemption is one of the first questions worth answering.

What the LMIA Process Actually Costs a Small Business

The government LMIA application fee is $1,000 per position. If you use an immigration consultant or lawyer to prepare the application, add their professional fees. If the candidate needs to travel for an interview or for credential assessment, factor in those costs. If you are covering the worker’s relocation expenses, that is an additional cost.

Important Legal Requirement

Immigration processing fees for the worker’s work permit are the worker’s responsibility to pay, not the employer’s. You cannot deduct LMIA application costs from the worker’s wages, which is a legal requirement worth knowing.

The Global Talent Stream: A Faster Option for Tech Roles

If you are hiring for a technology or highly skilled role on the Global Talent occupations list, the Global Talent Stream (GTS) offers LMIA processing with a two-week processing target. This is dramatically faster than the standard stream.

The GTS requires the employer to commit to a Labour Market Benefits Plan outlining how they will continue to invest in Canadian talent over time. For Canadian tech and knowledge economy businesses, this stream is often the fastest and most cost-effective path.

What Happens After the Worker Arrives

Once your foreign worker arrives in Canada and begins working, your obligations as an employer continue. You must pay the wage specified in the work permit and LMIA, maintain records of employment, and comply with all relevant employment standards legislation. In some programs, your workplace may be subject to inspection by ESDC.

You also need to plan ahead for the worker’s permit renewal well before the expiry date. A worker whose permit expires without renewal applied for cannot legally continue working for you.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a small business with fewer than 10 employees sponsor a foreign worker?

Yes. There is no minimum employee count to be eligible to apply for an LMIA. However, ESDC will review your business’s financial capacity to support the position, your compliance history with previous temporary foreign worker programs if applicable, and whether the position is genuine. Having your financial records organized and your business registration documentation in order before applying is important.

What if the worker I hire decides to leave after a few months?

You cannot legally prevent an employee from resigning. If the worker leaves, their employer-specific work permit becomes void for the purposes of working for another employer, but they retain the right to remain in Canada until their permit expires. You would need to go through the process again to hire a replacement if you want to bring in another foreign worker for the same role.

Are there sectors where hiring foreign workers is easier or faster?

Agriculture, caregiving, food processing, and certain technology roles have dedicated LMIA streams with different processing requirements and timelines. If your business operates in one of these sectors, there may be a more streamlined pathway available to you compared to the standard LMIA route.