Regular LMIA: employers, look after your job posting!

How do you properly post a job offer as part of a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) application? This issue is important because poor posting is a frequent source of LMIA refusals.

Obtaining an LMIA

While there are many exemptions, obtaining an LMIA through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) remains one of the most common routes for the issuance of a work permit in Canada.

The TFWP allows employers to hire foreign workers to address temporary shortages of labor and skills, as defined by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

As stated by the IRCC; the employer will have to obtain a notice from the authorities that the hiring of a foreign worker will not have a negative impact on the job market in Canada. The employer must request this notice as part of a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). A favorable LMIA confirms that the foreign worker will fill a need for labor and that no qualified Canadian is available to fill the job.

Except in specific cases where it is exempted, the employer will generally be required to ensure that the position offered to a foreign worker has been publicly advertised in a well-defined framework in order to give Canadian workers the opportunity to apply.

In this regard, it is common for the employer to be required to modify a posting that does not meet all the criteria set out, or even to completely repeat the process, which considerably delays obtaining an opinion.

Ensuring compliance of your job posting

The basic rules to respect in Quebec are the following:

– The position must be advertised for a continuous period of a minimum of 30 days, using at least three venues, including the Emploi-Québec search engine and at least one other method considered to have a national scope;

– All job requirements must be clearly displayed (name of employer, location of job, job title, job duties, salary and other conditions, job requirements, academic background, experience, etc.) As well as providing the contact information required to apply.

Pitfalls to avoid

Using the wrong search engines

For example, in the IT field, for a job in Quebec, you could use Espresso-jobs, Emploi Québec and Workopolis.

Copycat posting or self-serving evidence

You have found the perfect foreign candidate to become your production manager, you reproduce their resume as is in your posting. You see that the foreign worker completed a first degree in child psychology, you require this skill in your ad. This will certainly cause the authorities to question your intentions.

Marc-André RANGER, Head Paralegal and Partner