The LMIA wage requirement: every provincial threshold for 2026

LMIA wage requirement by province and territory, 2026

The LMIA wage threshold is $37.50 an hour in Alberta, $38.40 in British Columbia and $36.92 in Ontario for applications ESDC receives on or after July 17, 2026. Each province and territory has one figure, and it is the provincial median hourly wage plus 20 percent.

These figures apply to LMIAs received on or after July 17, 2026. An application is assessed against the threshold in force on the day ESDC receives it, not the day it is decided.

The previous thresholds, for applications already in the queue

Every province and territory except the Northwest Territories moved up in the July 2026 revision. Alberta rose by $1.50 to $37.50, British Columbia by $1.80 to $38.40, and Ontario by $0.92 to $36.92. The Atlantic provinces, all previously at or near $30.00, now sit between $31.20 and $33.60. The territories remain far higher because their median wages are; Nunavut rose from $42.00 to $45.00. Source: ESDC, hire a temporary foreign worker in a high-wage or low-wage position.

How the threshold decides your LMIA stream

If the offered hourly wage is at or above the threshold for the province or territory where the job is located, the position is high-wage. If it is below the threshold, the position is low-wage. Since November 8, 2024 that threshold has been the provincial or territorial median hourly wage plus 20 percent, so roles that once cleared the line on the plain median now fall into the low-wage stream.

The Temporary Foreign Worker Program splits LMIA work permit applications into two streams with different rules. To decide which one applies, ESDC compares the hourly wage the employer is offering for the position with the threshold for the province or territory where the job is located.

• High-wage stream: the offered hourly wage is at or above the provincial threshold, so the application is a high wage LMIA. There is no cap on the number of foreign workers, permits can run up to three years, and the employer files a transition plan showing how it will reduce its reliance on foreign workers.
• Low-wage stream: the offered hourly wage is below the provincial threshold, so the application is a low-wage LMIA. Low-wage foreign workers are capped at 10 percent of the worksite's workforce, and 20 percent only in named sectors (construction, food manufacturing, hospitals, nursing and residential care, and specified in-home caregiver occupations).
• Refusal to process, low-wage only: since September 26, 2024 ESDC will not process a low-wage LMIA at all where the work location sits in a census metropolitan area with an unemployment rate of 6 percent or higher. This is a harder gate than the cap, because no wage adjustment inside the low-wage stream cures it.
• Extra low-wage employer duties: shorter permit durations, plus obligations to cover return transportation, ensure affordable housing is available and provide private health insurance until provincial coverage starts.

The threshold that applies is the one in force on the day ESDC receives the application, which is why the table keeps the previous figures: an LMIA filed in June 2026 in Alberta is assessed at $36.00 even if the decision arrives in September. Because the two streams sit in separate queues, the wage also shapes how long the file takes; our LMIA processing time page sets out the current service standards and the $1,000 fee per position.

Prevailing wage

The prevailing wage is the higher of two numbers: the Job Bank median hourly wage for the occupation's NOC 2021 code in the economic region where the work is, and the wage the employer already pays Canadians and permanent residents doing the same job, at the same location, with similar skills and years of experience. Every LMIA in either stream must offer at least that wage.

The obligation continues after approval. ESDC requires the employer to review the prevailing wage annually against the updated Job Bank figures, which are refreshed each autumn, giving employers until January 1 of the following year to complete the review. The reviewed wage can never fall below the rate on the positive LMIA, even if the Job Bank median drops. Both rules are set out in ESDC's program requirements for high-wage positions on canada.ca.

Threshold or prevailing wage? The two halves of the LMIA wage requirement

In practice, the sequence for an employer is: find the NOC 2021 code with the NOC code finder, look up the prevailing wage for that code in the economic region on Job Bank, set the offered wage at or above it and in line with Canadian staff, then compare that wage with the provincial threshold to know which stream and which rules apply. Getting that order wrong is what turns a straightforward file into a refusal: an employer who picks a wage to land in a preferred stream, then discovers the Job Bank median for the TEER category sits higher, has to re-advertise at the corrected rate before filing.

One more figure sits underneath both tests. Provincial employment standards set a legal minimum wage, and no offer of employment can fall below it. It is rarely the binding number, because the Job Bank median for almost every occupation is well above the statutory minimum, but it is the reason a below-minimum offer is never rescued by any part of the LMIA wage requirement.

What the 2026 thresholds mean by occupation and NOC code

Because the threshold is a single provincial number, the same occupation falls on different sides of the line in different provinces, and the prevailing wage often sits well below it for the roles most often hired through LMIAs.

Two conclusions follow for employers in the Bow Valley and Alberta generally. Most hospitality hires are low-wage LMIAs, with the cap and the regional refusal rule to manage, which is why many Canmore and Banff employers route workers through International Experience Canada and the Alberta Tourism and Hospitality Stream instead. And trades and health hires usually sit on the high-wage side, where the transition plan rather than the cap is the paperwork.

How to work through the LMIA wage requirement before you file

1. 01

   Code the job and find the prevailing wage

   NOC 2021 code, then the Job Bank median for the economic region. The offered wage must be at or above it and consistent with what Canadian staff earn.

2. 02

   Compare the offered wage with the provincial threshold

   At or above: high-wage stream. Below: low-wage stream. Use the July 17, 2026 column for new applications.

3. 03

   If low-wage, check the cap and the region

   Count the worksite's total workforce and existing low-wage foreign workers against the 10 or 20 percent cap, and check the unemployment rate of the census metropolitan area; 6 percent or higher means an automatic refusal for most occupations.

4. 04

   Assemble the employer evidence

   ESDC assesses the business behind the wage as well as the wage itself: incorporation documents, payroll, T4 summaries and proof the position is real. Our LMIA business legitimacy page lists what officers look for.

5. 05

   Consider whether an exemption or another program fits

   An LMIA-exempt code, the Global Talent Stream, IEC or a provincial nominee stream may avoid the LMIA altogether.

6. 06

   Advertise, then file

   Four weeks of recruitment on Job Bank plus two other methods, then the LMIA with the $1,000 processing fee per position.

7. 07

   Keep the wage consistent through the work permit and beyond

   The wage on the LMIA, the offer of employment, the work permit and any later PR application should match, and must keep pace with the prevailing wage at renewal.

Wage mistakes that get an LMIA refused

Most wage refusals come from avoidable arithmetic and paperwork errors rather than a genuinely underpaid job. These are the ones that surface most often when we review the LMIA wage requirement on a file before the employer advertises.

• Quoting an annual salary against an hourly threshold. ESDC works in dollars per hour. A $75,000 salary is only above the Alberta line if the contracted hours make it so; at 40 hours a week it is about $36.06, which is below $37.50.
• Using last year's number. An application received on or after July 17, 2026 is assessed against the new column, not the one the employer read six months earlier.
• Advertising one wage and offering another. The recruitment must have advertised at least the wage on the application, or the recruitment is not accepted.
• Paying the foreign worker more than Canadian colleagues. Wage parity with existing staff in the same role, location and experience band is assessed directly.
• Ignoring the wage range. Where a wage range is advertised, the bottom of the range is what ESDC measures, so a range that starts below the prevailing wage undermines the file.
• Forgetting the employer test. A correct wage on a business that cannot show it is genuine and active still fails; see LMIA business legitimacy for the documents ESDC expects.

Where the wage thresholds do not apply

The Global Talent Stream uses its own occupation list and wage floors and is processed in about two weeks. The agricultural streams, including the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, have separate wage and housing rules. The LMIA permanent resident stream, used to support an Express Entry or provincial nominee application, is assessed on the prevailing wage rather than the high or low split. And an LMIA exempt work permit under the International Mobility Program never touches the thresholds, though the prevailing wage still applies to the offer of employment filed through the Employer Portal.

After approval: keeping the wage right

The LMIA wage requirement does not stop at approval. An approved LMIA is a promise about pay, and employer compliance inspections check it against payroll records. The worker must actually receive the wage, hours and conditions set out in the confirmation letter and the employment contract, and any change has to be at least as favourable as what was approved. Wages also move: a renewal filed two years later is measured against the Job Bank median in force then, so a rate that was comfortably above the prevailing wage in 2026 may need raising before a second application. Employers new to the programme will find the wider sequence set out on our hiring foreign workers page.

Compliance note. Wild Mountain Immigration is a licensed RCIC practice (CICC R706497) and works with employers across Alberta and the rest of Canada. Every figure above is ESDC's, as published in its July 10, 2026 update and re-checked on September 5, 2026; ESDC revises the table and the stream rules, and Job Bank medians move separately, so confirm both before filing. If you want the LMIA wage requirement checked against a real job offer, a specific NOC 2021 code and the province the work is in, book a consultation and we will look at the wage, the stream and the recruitment plan together before the employer advertises.