Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has updated its rules so that work permit applicants will no longer be refused when the government takes longer than expected to process their employer’s Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA).
On October 28, 2026, IRCC revised its documentation to direct officers not to make a decision on a Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) work permit application until a decision has been reached on the LMIA.
The updated web page, “Labor Market Impact Assessment Review – Temporary Foreign Worker Program,” is a public-facing version of the instructions given to immigration officers.
Previously, the instructions told officers to hold the work permit application for a maximum of 90 days while awaiting a decision on the pending LMIA.
The change affects work permit applications filed under IRCC’s concurrent processing rules, which allow an in-Canada worker to apply for a TFWP work permit while their employer’s LMIA application remains pending.
To qualify for concurrent processing, a worker’s existing permit must expire in two weeks or less, and their employer must have submitted the LMIA application with enough lead time to reasonably expect Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) to process it before the worker’s permit expires.
Workers who apply before their permit expires benefit from maintained status, which authorizes them to keep working under their existing permit’s conditions until a decision is made on their extension.
On August 21, 2026, IRCC raised the concurrent processing time limit from 60 days to 90 days.
Employers must hold a positive or neutral LMIA for a foreign worker to receive a new work permit or extend an existing one through the TFWP. ESDC issues a positive or neutral LMIA to confirm no qualified Canadian citizen or permanent resident is available for the role.
Separately, employers in thirty urban areas currently face a ban on LMIA applications for non-exempt jobs paying less than 120 percent of the median provincial or territorial wage.
Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Edmonton, Calgary, Ottawa-Gatineau, Halifax, Fredericton and Regina are among the census metropolitan areas subject to the ban from October 9, 2026 to January 7, 2027.
The ban applies to areas with six percent or higher unemployment under a moratorium the federal government introduced in September 2024.
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