LMIA processing time and fees

It depends entirely on the stream. Employment and Social Development Canada publishes service standards rather than a single number, and the Global Talent Stream is the fastest at a target of about 10 business days. Most standard high-wage and low-wage applications take considerably longer, commonly running to several months in practice, and the published standard and the real-world experience are not always the same thing. Because the figures move, always check the current ESDC service standards before planning a start date around them.

The processing fee is $1,000 per position requested, paid by the employer, and it is non-refundable even if the application is refused or withdrawn. Employers cannot lawfully recover that fee from the worker. There are limited exemptions, including applications supporting permanent residence only, and for certain caregiver situations in low-income households. The employer may also face real costs for advertising and recruitment, which for most streams must be completed before applying.

No. The $1,000 processing fee is the employer's cost and cannot be passed to the foreign worker, directly or indirectly. Recovering it from the employee, whether through a deduction, a repayment arrangement or a lower wage, is a compliance breach and can lead to penalties and a ban from the program. If an employer or a recruiter asks a worker to pay for an LMIA, that is a serious warning sign about the arrangement as a whole.

The LMIA is only the first half. Once it is approved, the worker applies to IRCC for the work permit itself, and that is a separate queue with its own timeline that varies by country of application. As of August 2026, IRCC publishes about 119 days for a work permit application made from inside Canada; from outside Canada the figure is published per country. So a realistic total is the ESDC time plus the IRCC time, which is why LMIA-backed hiring should be planned in months rather than weeks.

The Global Talent Stream carries a service standard of about 10 business days for eligible applications, which is dramatically faster than standard streams, and IRCC has historically paired it with expedited work permit processing. The catch is eligibility: the role must fit either a referred unique-and-specialised position or an occupation on the Global Talent Occupations List, and the employer must commit to a Labour Market Benefits Plan. Where a role qualifies, it is the fastest LMIA route by a wide margin.

Not by itself, though the Global Talent Stream has historically been associated with expedited work permit processing for eligible applicants. In general the two stages are independent: a quick LMIA approval simply means the worker reaches the IRCC queue sooner. Employers planning a start date should add both stages together, plus time for recruitment and advertising before the LMIA is even filed.

Service standards are targets measured against applications that are complete and straightforward. Real files are often neither. Incomplete recruitment evidence, questions about the wage against the prevailing rate, a request for further documents, or an inspection can all add weeks. The published standard is a planning figure, not a promise, and the single biggest thing an employer controls is whether the application is complete and the recruitment properly documented when it is filed.

Often not. A large share of Canadian work permits are LMIA-exempt under the International Mobility Program, including intra-company transfers, CUSMA and CETA professionals, Francophone Mobility, spousal open work permits and post-graduation work permits. Because an LMIA costs $1,000, requires advertising and takes months, checking whether an exemption applies is always worth doing first. That question is usually the most valuable half-hour in the whole process.