The high wage LMIA stream

What is the high wage LMIA stream?

A high wage LMIA is the route an employer uses when the wage offered is at or above the median hourly wage for the province or territory where the job sits, Alberta included. As with any Labour Market Impact Assessment, it asks Employment and Social Development Canada to confirm that hiring a foreign worker will not harm the Canadian labour market. Compared with the low-wage LMIA stream, the high-wage LMIA stream carries fewer additional employer obligations, which is one reason the wage on the offer matters so much.

The bar for that stream is not fixed. Since November 8, 2024, ESDC has required the offered wage to sit at or above the provincial median plus 20 percent, not the plain median that applied before. Roles that comfortably cleared the old line can now land in the low-wage stream unless the wage is raised to match. The section below sets out the current 2026 figure for every province, and the section after it explains that 2024 change and what it means in practice.

High wage LMIA pay rate and wage requirements

The high wage LMIA pay rate turns on one comparison: the offered wage against the published median hourly wage for that province or territory. At or above the median, the role sits in the high-wage stream; below it, the low-wage stream. The employer must also pay at least the prevailing wage for the specific occupation and location, so meeting the median is the threshold, not the ceiling. Because the median figures are updated from time to time, the cut-off for any role should be confirmed on canada.ca before an employer applies.

1. 01

   Find the provincial median wage

   Look up the published median hourly wage for the province or territory where the job is located.

2. 02

   Compare the offered wage to the median

   At or above the median, the role is in the high-wage LMIA stream; below it, the low-wage stream applies.

3. 03

   Confirm the prevailing wage

   The wage must also meet at least the prevailing wage for that specific occupation and location.

4. 04

   Verify current figures on canada.ca

   Because the median wage is updated periodically, confirm the live cut-off before the employer applies.

High-wage LMIA thresholds by province in 2026

The current high-wage LMIA threshold is $37.50 an hour in Alberta, $38.40 in British Columbia, $36.92 in Ontario and $31.33 in Manitoba, and each province's figure applies to every LMIA that Employment and Social Development Canada receives from 17 July 2026 onward. Because the threshold is set provincially, the same job offer can land in different streams depending on where in Canada the position sits. The first table below gives the current figure for every province and territory; the second keeps the superseded figures, because an application ESDC received before 17 July 2026 is still assessed against those.

An Alberta job offer needs to reach $37.50 an hour to be assessed under the high-wage LMIA stream for applications ESDC receives from July 17, 2026 onward. That is one number, not the whole test: the employer must still pay at least the prevailing wage for the specific occupation, which for many skilled trades and health roles common in the Bow Valley already sits above the provincial figure. Our LMIA wage thresholds page carries the full table by occupation as well as by province, and both figures should be re-checked on canada.ca before an employer files.

In practice, most skilled trades, health and technical occupations land comfortably on the high-wage side of Alberta's $37.50 line, while many hospitality, food-service and entry-level care roles sit below it once the prevailing wage for the specific occupation is checked, which the table below illustrates against Alberta, Ontario and Manitoba.

Two conclusions follow for Alberta employers. Most hospitality hires end up in the low-wage LMIA stream, with the cap and the regional-unemployment refusal rule to manage, which is why many Canmore and Banff employers route seasonal roles through International Experience Canada or a provincial stream instead of an LMIA at all. Trades, technical and health hires, by contrast, usually sit on the high-wage side, where the transition plan, not the cap, is the paperwork that decides how smoothly the file moves.

The 2024 threshold change: median wage plus 20 percent

On November 8, 2024, ESDC raised the line between the high-wage and low-wage LMIA streams from the plain provincial median hourly wage to the provincial median plus 20 percent, as part of a wider federal effort to reduce reliance on temporary foreign labour. Until that date, the plain median alone decided the stream. The effect fell hardest on lower-TEER, lower-skill roles, where the prevailing wage often sat close to the old median; managerial and professional positions, where the prevailing wage was already well above the median, were largely unaffected. An employer who cannot or will not raise the offered wage to the new line has to look at whether a low-wage LMIA is realistic instead, which brings its own cap and, in higher-unemployment regions, an outright refusal to process.

Alberta's own numbers trace that history clearly. The province's plain median wage published in April 2024 was $29.50 an hour; the 20 percent uplift that took effect on November 8, 2024 put the high-wage line at $35.40. The regular annual update then moved it to $36.00 for applications received from June 27, 2025, and to today's $37.50 for applications received from July 17, 2026, a rise of $8.00 an hour in roughly two years once both the 2024 policy change and the ordinary annual revisions are combined. An employer who last checked the Alberta figure before late 2024 is almost certainly working from a number that is no longer correct.

High-wage LMIA vs low-wage LMIA: the difference

The high-wage LMIA and the low-wage LMIA share the same core requirements; the difference is the add-on obligations the low-wage stream imposes. Both streams demand genuine recruitment, advertising and payment of the prevailing wage, but only the low-wage stream layers on transportation, housing and a cap on the share of low-wage foreign workers.

The duration difference is worth flagging on its own. A positive high-wage LMIA can support an employer-specific work permit of up to three years, with ESDC able to approve a longer duration in genuinely exceptional circumstances if the employer sets out a clear rationale. Low-wage positions are generally tied to shorter durations, which is one more reason a role that can plausibly clear the high-wage line is worth structuring to do so from the start.

High-wage LMIA employment duration and validity

A positive high-wage LMIA is valid for six months from the date ESDC issues it, and the employment it supports can run for up to three years. Those are two different clocks, and confusing them causes real problems. The LMIA decision itself is valid for up to six months, for applications ESDC received on or after May 1, 2024; the worker must apply for the work permit inside that window or the LMIA lapses, with no extension, only a fresh application and a new fee. Separately, the employment durationa high-wage work permit can cover, once issued, runs up to three years, matched to the employer's reasonable staffing need, with room for ESDC to approve a longer term where the circumstances genuinely justify it. An employer planning around a high-wage LMIA should treat the six-month window as the deadline to act, and the three-year figure as the planning horizon for the role itself.

What does ESDC mean by "high-wage positions"?

ESDC uses "high-wage positions"on canada.ca as an umbrella for four different things: the Global Talent Stream, the standard high-wage stream covered on this page (including caregiver positions paid at or above the threshold), the agricultural stream, and applications made only to support permanent residence. The term is therefore broader than the single stream this page covers, which matters if you are comparing our figures with ESDC's own site, because each of those four follows different requirements once you look past the wage test. For most employers reading this page, "high-wage LMIA" means the standard stream; if the role instead fits the Global Talent Stream's occupation list, that route is both faster and structured differently, and is worth checking first. The agricultural stream and PR-support-only applications also sit inside that same "high-wage positions" grouping on canada.ca, but each follows its own wage and documentation rules rather than the ones set out on this page.

High-wage LMIA, Global Talent Stream or LMIA-exempt: choosing the right route

Three routes commonly compete for the same high-wage role: the standard high-wage LMIA, the Global Talent Stream, and an LMIA-exempt work permit under the International Mobility Program. Not every job offer that clears the high-wage threshold needs the standard stream, and picking the wrong one wastes months and, in some cases, the $1,000 fee.

When a role could plausibly fit more than one of these, checking eligibility for the faster or LMIA-exempt route first is almost always worth the time, precisely because the standard high-wage LMIA stream is now the slowest of the group.

High-wage LMIA recruitment and advertising requirements

High-wage LMIA recruitment requires the employer to advertise the position and run genuine recruitment to test for available Canadians or permanent residents, typically including a mandatory Job Bank posting plus additional methods over a set minimum period. The application to Employment and Social Development Canada bundles the job details, wage, recruitment results and supporting documents that show the business can pay the offered wage.

The minimum is at least three separate recruitment activities. One is always a Job Bank posting (an alternative method needs a written rationale); the other two must be consistent with the occupation, and at least one of those two must be national in scope, meaning candidates anywhere in Canada can search it from a single site rather than a regional sub-site. That national-scope rule exists specifically because high-wage workers are assumed to be mobile and willing to relocate. Every Job Bank posting must also use the Job Bank's Job Match service on its default setting, and the employer is required to invite every job seeker matched at four stars or higher within the first 30 days of the posting to apply, and to consider every application submitted through Job Bank's Direct Apply feature; turning Direct Apply off, or ignoring the applicants it surfaces, counts against the recruitment effort.

The advertising itself has to run for a minimum of four consecutive weeks within the three months before the LMIA is filed, and at least one of the three recruitment activities must stay open right through to the date ESDC issues its decision, positive or negative. The advertisement has to state the operating name and address, the job title and duties, the terms of employment, the language of work, a wage or wage range whose floor meets the prevailing wage, any benefits, the location, and full contact details. Employers must then keep proof: copies of the ads, evidence of who they reached, and records of every other recruitment activity, retained for a minimum of six years in case of an inspection.

One rule cuts across every recruitment method: whatever it costs to advertise, use a recruiter, or engage a third-party representative, none of that cost can be charged or recovered from the foreign worker, directly or indirectly. A recruiter or representative found to have taken money from the worker for a high-wage LMIA can end the employer's application on the spot, regardless of how strong the rest of the file is, and every province and territory that regulates recruiters separately still leaves the employer responsible for what its recruiter does on its behalf.

The transition plan requirement for a high-wage LMIA

A transition planis a mandatory part of most high-wage LMIA applications, valid for the entire duration of the worker's employment. It sets out the concrete steps the employer commits to taking to recruit, retain and train Canadians and permanent residents, and to reduce reliance on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program over time. An employer who has submitted one before, for the same position and location, must also report on whether the commitments in that earlier plan were actually carried out; ESDC uses that history when it assesses the new application. Even an LMIA filed purely to support a worker's permanent residence application, with no accompanying work-permit request, still needs a transition plan if it does not fall into one of the exemptions below.

How the prevailing wage is calculated for a high-wage LMIA

Meeting the provincial threshold is only half the wage test. For every LMIA, ESDC requires the employer to pay whichever is higherof two figures: the median wage listed on Job Bank's Compare Wages tool for that occupation and region, or the wage range the employer already pays its own Canadian and permanent-resident staff doing the same job, with similar skills and experience. Only guaranteed wages count toward that figure; overtime, tips, bonuses, profit sharing, commissions and other variable pay are excluded, so a base rate that only clears the threshold once bonus income is added will not satisfy the rule.

Business legitimacy for a high-wage LMIA

Every LMIA, whatever the stream, is measured against ESDC's four business legitimacy factors: that the business genuinely provides a good or service in Canada, that the job represents a reasonable employment need, that the employer can actually fulfil the wage and terms offered, and that it complies with federal or provincial employment law. For most standard employers that means a municipal business licence and one of five named CRA financial forms, T2SCH100 and T2SCH125 for a corporation, T2042 for a self-employed farmer, T2125 for a sole proprietorship, T3010 for a registered charity, or T5013SCH1 for a partnership; a financial institution attestation only fills the gap where those CRA documents genuinely do not exist, since ESDC stopped accepting accountant and lawyer attestation letters for this purpose in October 2024. New employers, meaning those who have not hired a temporary foreign worker in the past six years, face an added review of whether their workplace is free of abuse, looking at both proactive steps taken to prevent mistreatment and reactive measures in place to stop it, before an LMIA in any stream, high-wage included, will be approved. Our LMIA business legitimacy guide breaks the exact documents down by employer type.

Other high-wage LMIA employer obligations

Beyond the wage, the recruitment and the transition plan, a handful of standing obligations apply to every high-wage hire. The role has to be genuinely full-time, a minimum of 30 hours a week, and the worker can only be assigned duties that match the occupation named on the LMIA. Employers must arrange and pay for private health insurance covering emergency medical care for any period before the worker is covered under the provincial system, and must ensure the worker is covered by the applicable workplace safety insurance scheme, or an equivalent private plan offering the same or better protection. A signed employment agreement, in the language the worker prefers, has to be in place by their first day of work, even though it is not required at the time the LMIA is submitted. And because only English or French can be listed as a job requirement, an employer who genuinely needs another language, or none at all, has to justify that on the application and show the safety measures in place to compensate, for example translated safety manuals, on-site training in the worker's language, international symbol-based safety signage, an on-site translator, or supervisors who already speak that language. Unionized positions carry their own rule: the employer must advertise and pay the exact wage rate the collective agreement sets, offer the same terms and conditions Canadian and permanent-resident colleagues receive, and submit the wage clause of the agreement with the application. ESDC will also refuse an LMIA outright, high-wage included, where hiring a temporary foreign worker would foreseeably affect the outcome of a labour dispute at the worksite.

How to apply for a high-wage LMIA

The employer, not the worker, submits the application, and it can go in up to six months before the job's expected start date. In practice the process runs through ESDC's own online system rather than on paper.

1. 01

   Set up a Job Bank for employers account

   This account is the gateway to LMIA Online, ESDC's portal for submitting and tracking high-wage LMIA applications.

2. 02

   Complete the pre-application checklist

   Confirm the recruitment has run its full four weeks, decide whether a third-party representative will be used, and check whether the fee applies.

3. 03

   Gather the business legitimacy documents

   A current business licence, the relevant CRA financial form, and proof of the recruitment and advertising efforts undertaken.

4. 04

   Create and submit the application in LMIA Online

   From the employer dashboard, upload the supporting documents and pay the $1,000 processing fee where it applies.

5. 05

   Respond quickly if ESDC asks for more

   Contact the processing centre or Employer Contact Centre for any change; switching streams means withdrawing and refiling, and the fee is not refunded or transferred.

Changes made after submission but before a decision go through the same processing centre or the Employer Contact Centre, not by resubmitting the form. If the change is more fundamental, for example the wage drops enough that the file now belongs in the low-wage stream rather than the high-wage one, the correct step is to withdraw the pending application and file a new one under the right stream; ESDC treats a stream switch this way rather than as an edit, and the processing fee already paid neither transfers to the new file nor comes back.

High-wage LMIA processing time in 2026

ESDC does not publish one universal LMIA processing time; it releases a monthly average, in business days, by stream. For the high-wage stream, that figure reached 88 business days as of July 2026, up from 60 business days in February 2026, making it currently the slowest of the standard LMIA categories, slower even than the low-wage stream at 73 business days over the same window. That clock covers the LMIA decision alone. Once ESDC issues a positive high-wage LMIA, the worker still applies separately to IRCC for the employer-specific work permit, a second queue with its own timeline that depends on where the application is made. Realistic planning means budgeting the ESDC time plus the IRCC time, not one or the other; our LMIA processing time page tracks the current month's figures by stream, alongside the $1,000 processing fee and the six-month validity window a positive decision carries.

Worked example: is a Calgary job offer high-wage or low-wage?

A Calgary job offer is high-wage when it pays at least $37.50 an hour and also meets the Job Bank prevailing wage for that occupation in the Alberta economic region, and low-wage when it falls below either figure. The four employers below, across three provinces, show how the threshold and the prevailing wage interact in practice, using each province's current figure for applications received from July 17, 2026.

The Calgary and Toronto offers clear both tests comfortably, so each file proceeds as a high-wage LMIA with a transition plan and no cap on numbers. The Canmore offer falls short on wage alone, before the low-wage cap or the census metropolitan area's unemployment rate are even considered, which is exactly the pattern many Bow Valley hospitality roles follow, and one reason those employers often look at International Experience Canada or Alberta's Tourism & Hospitality Stream as alternatives to a low-wage LMIA altogether. The Winnipeg example is the more common real case: a wage that clears the line by well under a dollar, where a small movement in either the offer or the annual threshold update changes which stream, which obligations and which cap apply, and is worth working through carefully before an employer commits to either one. In all four cases, the deciding number is the occupation's prevailing wage on Job Bank for the specific region, not a national average or a rough guess, and checking it before an offer letter goes out costs nothing compared with correcting a wage after recruitment has already started.

Caregiver positions and the high-wage stream

A caregiver position paid at or above the provincial threshold is assessed in the high-wage LMIA stream on the same wage test as any other role, but it is exempt from the transition plan that most high-wage applications must include. ESDC groups caregiver roles within the same "high-wage positions" family as the standard stream, which is why the wage test works identically. On the transition plan, private household employers hiring an in-home caregiver under specific NOC codes, and health-care institutions hiring a health-care provider under a defined set of NOC codes, are exempt from the transition-plan requirement even on the high-wage side, because the nature of the work makes the usual recruit-retain-train commitments impractical. The wage test, the recruitment rules and the business legitimacy factors still apply in full; only the transition plan is set aside for these specific caregiver and health-care NOCs.

Employer compliance after a positive high-wage LMIA

A positive high-wage LMIA is not the end of the employer's obligations; it is the start of a compliance period that runs for the whole of the worker's employment and beyond. ESDC and IRCC can inspect the employer at any point during the worker's employment and for up to six years afterward, which is why the same six-year retention rule applies to recruitment records and to a complete set of employment records documenting compliance with the employment agreement, the wage and the job duties as filed. An employer who fails to keep the worker's pay in line with the prevailing wage, misses the annual wage review, or otherwise falls short of a program requirement can face administrative monetary penalties and, in serious or repeated cases, a ban from using the Temporary Foreign Worker Program altogether. None of this falls on the worker; the compliance regime is aimed squarely at the employer, but a worker whose employer is later found non-compliant can still see their own case affected, which is one more reason the employer's side of a high-wage LMIA is worth getting right from the start.

How a high-wage LMIA can lead to permanent residence

A high wage LMIA supports a temporary work permit, but it is often a strong foundation for permanent residence. The skilled Canadian work experience you build, and the job offer itself, can support Provincial Nominee Program employer streams, many of which are built around a genuine, higher-skilled job offer. For a worker already in Alberta on the work permit that followed a high wage LMIA, the Alberta Opportunity Streamis often the most direct route: it requires a full-time, ongoing job offer that pays at least Alberta's minimum wage and meets or exceeds the wage set out on your LMIA, which a genuine high-wage offer already does by definition. A permanent, full-time Alberta job offer also adds Worker EOI points under Alberta's other main pathway for skilled workers, so it is worth running the numbers on our free Alberta PNP points calculator before deciding which stream to target. That same skilled experience can also help an Express Entry profile. We plan the work-permit stage with the eventual LMIA permanent-resident stream in mind so the temporary role is a deliberate step toward staying permanently. Not sure which route fits, our free eligibility check is a quick first step, and our Alberta immigration hub covers every other AAIP stream if neither of these matches your situation.

What happens if a high-wage LMIA is refused?

There is no formal appeal against a negative LMIA. An employer can ask ESDC to reconsider, but that is granted entirely at ESDC's discretion, and works best where there is a clear factual error or genuinely new information rather than a request to re-weigh the same file. In practice, the usual route after a negative high-wage LMIA is to fix whatever caused it, whether that is the wage, the recruitment record, the transition plan or the business legitimacy documents, and reapply, which means a fresh $1,000 fee since the original one is not refunded. The worker has no independent right to contest a negative decision either, since the LMIA is the employer's application, not theirs, which is why we tell candidates early not to treat a job offer as secure until the LMIA behind it is actually positive.

Common high-wage LMIA rejection reasons

A negative decision on a high-wage LMIA usually traces back to one of a small number of recurring problems, most of which are avoidable with the right preparation before the application goes in.

What we check before filing a high-wage LMIA

Most high-wage LMIA refusals we see trace back to one of a small number of avoidable problems, and a licensed RCIC's job is to catch them before ESDC does. The wage is the first check: an offer that clears the provincial threshold on paper still fails if it sits below the actual prevailing wage for the NOC and region, or if it was raised artificially above what the employer pays its own Canadian staff in the same role, which ESDC treats as a red flag rather than a benefit. The recruitment file is the second: a Job Bank posting that skips the national-scope requirement, an advertisement that ran for under four consecutive weeks, or missing proof of the other recruitment methods will all draw questions. The transition plan is the third, since a plan that repeats generic language without concrete recruiting, retention and training commitments reads as boilerplate to an officer who reviews these files daily. And the business legitimacy documents are the fourth, particularly since the October 2024 change removed accountant and lawyer attestations as an option; new employers with no six-year hiring history face closer scrutiny still.

1. 01

   Confirm the wage clears both tests

   The provincial threshold and the occupation-specific prevailing wage, using guaranteed pay only, never a rate propped up by bonuses or tips.

2. 02

   Stress-test the recruitment file

   Job Bank plus two genuinely consistent methods, one national in scope, run for four full consecutive weeks, with proof kept for every activity.

3. 03

   Write a transition plan that says something specific

   Concrete recruiting, training and retention commitments tied to the actual worksite, not a template ESDC has read a hundred times.

4. 04

   Line up the current business legitimacy documents

   The right CRA form for the entity type, a valid business licence, and a financial institution attestation only where genuinely needed.

5. 05

   Check for a faster or cheaper alternative first

   An LMIA-exempt category, the Global Talent Stream, or a provincial route may fit better than a standard high-wage LMIA.

Third-party representation is itself regulated. ESDC only allows a paid representative to act for an employer if they are a member in good standing of a provincial law society, the Chambre des notaires du Québec, the Law Society of Ontario as a paralegal, or the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants; an unpaid representative, such as a family member or a pro bono lawyer, faces no such restriction. ESDC will communicate directly with the employer to verify what a representative has submitted, but it will not mediate a dispute between an employer and its representative, which is one more reason to check credentials before engaging anyone to handle a high-wage LMIA. Working under a licensed RCIC (CICC #R706497), our team checks the wage against the current threshold and prevailing wage, reviews the recruitment evidence and transition plan commitments, and confirms which business legitimacy documents actually apply before an employer spends the $1,000 fee. Where the numbers do not support a high-wage LMIA, we also check whether an LMIA exempt work permit category might avoid the LMIA altogether, since that question is often the single most useful one to ask first.

How Wild Mountain Immigration helps with a high wage LMIA

A high wage LMIA is the employer's responsibility, but the worker's permit is where we help. Working under a licensed RCIC (CICC #R706497), our team confirms which stream a role falls in, helps both sides understand the recruitment, transition-plan and wage rules within the broader Temporary Foreign Worker Program, and prepares the worker's employer-specific work-permit application once a positive LMIA is issued. Tech roles may qualify for the faster Global Talent Stream instead, and employers can start with our hiring foreign workers guide. We represent clients entirely online, and because the median wage, the prevailing wage and the requirements change, we confirm current rules on canada.ca before advising on any high-wage LMIA application, whether the employer is in Canmore, Calgary, Edmonton or anywhere else in Alberta.