The Low-Wage LMIA in Canada

A low-wage LMIA may be ineligible for processing where the work location is in a census metropolitan area at 6 per cent unemployment or higher. ESDC lists specific exemptions, so check the job and filing purpose before treating the bar as absolute.

About this work

When the application cannot be filed at all

This is the first question on a low-wage file, and it is a question about geography and the job. Since 26 September 2024, ESDC generally will not process an LMIA application that has both a wage below the provincial or territorial wage threshold and a work location in a census metropolitan area with an unemployment rate of 6 per cent or higher at the time of submission.

ESDC publishes the rate applied to each area for a set period. For applications submitted between 9 October 2026 and 7 January 2027, the rate in effect for Toronto is 7.5 per cent. The two preceding periods were 7.3 and 7.9 per cent.

The method ESDC sets out is to enter the complete postal code of the work location in the Census of population search, read the census metropolitan area off the result, and then check the rate applied to that area for the period. The rate is read at the date of submission, so a file held back across a period boundary is measured against a different number.

A defined set of applications is exempted from the measure, so the answer is not automatic for every low-wage position in an affected area.

Written by the firm. Pending review by Kapil Rathod, Barrister and Solicitor, Law Society of Ontario licence 77122E.

Official sources: ESDC refusal-to-process rules and current CMA rates; ESDC low-wage stream requirements.

The clock

How long do you have to act?

6% triggers the CMA processing bar

Three figures decide a low-wage file, and the first one can end it before the job description is written.

6 per centThe census metropolitan area unemployment rate at which ESDC will not process a low-wage application
10 per centThe cap on the proportion of low-wage workers at a work location, or 20 per cent in named sectors
8 weeksMinimum advertising, consecutive, inside the 3 months before submission

The rate applied to each census metropolitan area is published by Employment and Social Development Canada for a set period and is read at the date of submission. Toronto was 7.9 per cent for applications submitted from 10 April 2026, 7.3 per cent from 10 July 2026, and 7.5 per cent from 9 October 2026 to 7 January 2027. The measure has applied to applications submitted since 26 September 2024.

The question that comes before the job description

Most low-wage LMIA applications in Toronto face a processing bar

Employers reach for the low-wage stream when the wage is what it is. In much of the Greater Toronto Area the answer is not a harder application, it is no application.

  1. It turns on the postal code

    ESDC has employers enter the complete postal code of the work location in the Census of population search, read the census metropolitan area from the result, and check the rate applied to that area.

  2. The rate is read at submission

    The published rate applies to applications submitted inside a set period. Toronto is 7.5 per cent for submissions from 9 October 2026 to 7 January 2027, and both preceding periods were above 6 per cent too.

  3. Not processed is not refused

    The application does not get assessed on its merits and turned down. It is not taken up, which is why the geography question belongs at the start of the file rather than in the middle of it.

Side by side

What the low-wage stream adds

5 routes, each with its own clock

Everything below sits on top of the requirements both streams share. It is the reason the wage comparison is worth doing before anything else.

Low-wageHigh-wageWhere it bites
Refusal to process by areaApplies at 6 per cent unemployment or higher in the census metropolitan areaDoes not applyToronto is at 7.5 per cent for submissions from 9 October 2026
Cap on proportion of workers10 per cent, or 20 per cent in named sectorsNoneA small workforce can exhaust the cap on one hire
AdvertisingMinimum 8 consecutive weeksMinimum 4 consecutive weeksThe recruitment window opens a month earlier
Maximum employment duration1 yearUp to 3 yearsAn annual renewal against a three-year runway
Transition planNot requiredRequiredThe one requirement the low-wage stream does not carry

Refusal to process by area

Low-wage
Applies at 6 per cent unemployment or higher in the census metropolitan area
High-wage
Does not apply
Where it bites
Toronto is at 7.5 per cent for submissions from 9 October 2026

Cap on proportion of workers

Low-wage
10 per cent, or 20 per cent in named sectors
High-wage
None
Where it bites
A small workforce can exhaust the cap on one hire

Advertising

Low-wage
Minimum 8 consecutive weeks
High-wage
Minimum 4 consecutive weeks
Where it bites
The recruitment window opens a month earlier

Maximum employment duration

Low-wage
1 year
High-wage
Up to 3 years
Where it bites
An annual renewal against a three-year runway

Transition plan

Low-wage
Not required
High-wage
Required
Where it bites
The one requirement the low-wage stream does not carry

Before the meeting

What to bring to the first meeting

6 things to bring

Bring what you have and say what is missing. A meeting with the papers in front of it settles in one sitting what two telephone calls will not.

  • ✓The work location, with its complete postal code
  • ✓The wage offered, hourly
  • ✓The total headcount at that location, split full-time and part-time
  • ✓How many temporary foreign workers are already at that location
  • ✓The industry classification code the business operates under
  • ✓What advertising has run, and the exact dates it ran

Our approach

A clear path forward

The same four steps on every matter, whether it is a refusal at the Federal Court or a ticket at the Provincial Offences court.

Book a consultation
01

Understand

We take the full history and read the documents before offering an opinion. Most bad advice comes from acting on half the facts.

02

Assess

You get a candid read on strength, timeline and cost, including when the honest answer is that you do not need to hire anyone.

03

Act

We prepare the application, the defence or the appeal properly the first time, because fixing a weak record later is harder and dearer.

04

Report

You hear from us at each stage, and you hear what a wait actually means rather than a date chosen to sound better.

Reported decisions

What has this work produced?

7 allowed of 22 reported since 2023

Public judgments of the Federal Court with Kapil Rathod as counsel of record, each checkable by citation on the court's own site. The rest were dismissed and are listed with these ones.

All case outcomes, including the client accounts

Where to go next

A low-wage LMIA carries a 10 per cent cap, eight consecutive weeks of advertising and a one year maximum.

Before any of that, it carries a geography test: in a census metropolitan area at 6 per cent unemployment or higher the application is not processed, and Toronto has been above that line through every published period this year.

The high-wage streamWork permits and the assessment routeLMIA exempt work permitsBook a consultation

Common questions

What do people ask about Low-wage LMIA?

6 answered here

Written to be read once and acted on rather than to be rung about. Each answer is complete where the law allows a complete answer.

The cap on the proportion of low-wage workers

Ten per cent of the total workforce at a given work location, as the general rule. An application that would put the proportion above it may not be processed.

The cap is 20 per cent for a named set of sectors and occupations: positions in construction, food manufacturing, hospitals, and nursing and residential care facilities, identified by their industry classification codes, along with specific in-home caregiver positions in a private household under four occupation codes.

How the workforce is counted matters as much as the percentage. Every full-time and part-time employee at the location counts, including Canadians, permanent residents, workers on other permits and employees on leave who are expected to return. A full-time employee averages 30 hours a week or more. A part-time employee averages less, and counts as half an employee.

Employers with fewer than ten employees at a location complete the cap section of the application form regardless, and may be asked for payroll records to support what they have entered.

Eight weeks of advertising, not four

The low-wage stream doubles the advertising requirement. The advertisement runs for a minimum of eight consecutive weeks within the three months before the application is submitted, against four consecutive weeks in the high-wage stream.

Eight weeks inside a three month window leaves very little slack. An employer who starts advertising and files six weeks later has not met it, and there is no way to make the time up after submission.

The rest of the recruitment framework is the same shape: several activities, Job Bank among them, and at least one still running when the decision is issued.

One year, and the other ways an application is refused outright

The programme allows a low-wage hire for a maximum of one year, and the employment duration has to align with the reasonable employment needs of the business. A high-wage position may be requested for up to three.

The refusal to process list runs wider than the unemployment measure. ESDC may also refuse to process a position above the cap, an in-home caregiver position where there is a live-in requirement, any position where the employer has had an LMIA revoked in the past two years, and certain low-wage positions in the economic regions of Montréal and Laval.

Employers in rural areas within participating provinces and territories may be eligible for temporary measures on the proportion of workers they can hire in certain low-wage positions. Whether a given location qualifies is worth checking against the current published measure rather than assumed.

Can a low-wage LMIA be filed in Toronto right now?

Not while the published rate stays above the threshold. ESDC will not process a low-wage application where the work location is in a census metropolitan area with an unemployment rate of 6 per cent or higher at the time of submission, and the rate in effect for Toronto is 7.5 per cent for applications submitted from 9 October 2026 to 7 January 2027. A defined set of applications is exempted from the measure.

How is the 10 per cent cap counted?

Against the total workforce at the specific work location. Full-time and part-time employees both count, including Canadians, permanent residents, workers on other permits and employees on leave expected to return. Full-time means an average of 30 hours a week or more; a part-time employee counts as half. The cap is 20 per cent in named sectors including construction, food manufacturing, hospitals, and nursing and residential care.

How long can a low-wage worker be hired for?

A maximum of one year, and the duration has to align with the reasonable employment needs of the business. A high-wage position may be requested for up to three years.

Speak to someone this week

Bring the postal code before anything else. Whether a low-wage LMIA can be filed at that location is decided by a published rate and a headcount, and both are checkable in an afternoon.

Book a consultation Call +1 (647) 372-1983
Law Society of Ontario licensedFederal Court filingsEnglish, Hindi, Gujarati, Punjabi and UrduFee quoted before you commit