Information for Canadian employers: Who can apply

As an employer, you must ensure certain requirements are met before you can hire a foreign worker. In many cases, this involves a Labour Market Opinion (LMO).

You may also be interested in temporary programs that assist in hiring foreign workers for areas where Canada has a shortage of skilled workers.

Learn about employer eligibility for:

• Hiring a foreign worker and the Labour Market Opinion
• Temporary Foreign Worker Program

Hiring a foreign worker and the Labour Market Opinion

The key eligibility requirement for hiring a foreign worker is to obtain a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) from Service Canada.

Unless the work category is exempt, you will need an LMO. There is information on exempt jobs under Work Permit in the Related Links at the bottom of this page, or you can contact the Call Centre (see Contact Us at the top of this page).

You can get an LMO for:

• a specific worker or position, or
• pre-approval, which is approval in principle for a series of positions. This might be helpful if you need to recruit larger numbers of people.

Learn more about the Labour Market Opinion and the role of Service Canada:

• Labour Market Opinion Basics

Temporary Foreign Worker Units

Temporary Foreign Worker Units are designed to help employers address labour and skills shortages.

These units will:

• guide you through the immigration process if you or your representative wishes to hire foreign workers;
• ease the entry of temporary foreign workers who are exempt from the Labour Market Opinion process; and
• pre-screen your supporting documents as an employer to streamline the application process and provide an opinion for officers at the port of entry.

You can reach Temporary Foreign Worker Units in:

• Vancouver (serving the province of British Columbia)
• Calgary (serving the province of Alberta)
• Montréal (serving the province of Quebec)

All other regions should contact the Call Centre (see Contact Us at the top of this page) for more information.

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Related Links

• Work Permit