Hire a skilled worker to support their permanent residency – Wages, working conditions and occupations

Step-by-step process to determine the prevailing wage of the position

Unionized positions

Employers hiring foreign workers for available positions which are part of a union must advertise and offer the same wage rates as those established under the collective agreement. The collective bargaining agreement will outline the terms and conditions of employment such as:

• wages
• benefits, and
• hours of work

Employers must offer the foreign workers these same terms and conditions and also submit a copy of the collective bargaining agreement, along with the LMIA application to ESDC/Service Canada.

Prevailing wage

Under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, the prevailing wage rate is identified as the median hourly wage (or annual salary as published on Job Bank) or higher for the particular occupation and work location. Employers must also ensure that they include the wage being paid for the position, as part of their advertisement of the available position.

Employers must ensure the wage offered to the foreign worker is not below any:

• applicable federal or provincial/territorial minimum wage rates, or
• wage schedules set by provincial/territorial legislation (for example, Manitoba Construction Industry Wages Act)

Employers offering a wage that’s below the prevailing wage rate will be considered as not meeting the labour market factor for the assessment of wages. Therefore, they’ll receive a negative LMIA.

Prevailing wage reviews

For LMIA applications submitted as of January 1, 2024, employers are required to update the wages of TFWs to reflect the prevailing wage. This wage review, as part of the LMIA and employment agreement, ensures that TFWs are paid the prevailing wage at the start of and throughout their employment period.

You only need to review the prevailing wage if you’re applying for an LMIA to support a TFW’s work permit and permanent residence application. This means you’ll hire the foreign national as a TFW before or while their permanent residence application is being processed.

Regardless of the wage indicated on the LMIA application, employers are required to reassess and apply the prevailing wage at the beginning of a TFW’s period of employment. The prevailing wage must be reviewed annually using updated wages posted on Job Bank (if applicable). Because Job Bank wages are updated yearly in the fall, employers have until January 1 of the following year to do their review.

The updated wage can never go below the wage identified in the positive LMIA at any time during a TFW’s employment period, even if the prevailing wage decreases.

If you’re hiring TFWs in Quebec, consult the wage table provided by the Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration (MIFI) (French only).

Employers who don’t update wages accordingly may be subject to sanctions under the TFW Program’s employer compliance regime including administrative monetary penalties and bans from using the program.

You don’t need to report a wage modification to Service Canada if it meets the prevailing wage. Consult Modification to a positive LMIA to determine when a change requires contacting the Employer Contact Centre or submitting a new LMIA application.

Working conditions

Canadian law protects all workers in Canada, including foreign workers. The exploitation of a foreign worker is considered a violation of Canadian laws and human rights.

Employers must:

• pay workers for all work (including overtime, where required by law)
• provide workplace safety insurance
• offer TFWs the same benefits as other workers, and
• not take the TFWs’ identification

Employment in most occupations is covered under provincial/territorial legislation that deals with labour and employment standards such as hours of work, working conditions and termination of employment. In fact, every province/territory has a Ministry of Labour that can provide information to assist employers and foreign workers with questions or issues related to work.

Occupations

Employers cannot force any foreign workers to perform duties for which they were not hired or trained (for example if an employer submits an application to hire a foreign worker as a welder, the duties given to the worker must correspond to that occupation and not those associated with a janitor).