Offer of Employment to a Foreign National Exempt From an LMIA

With some limited exemptions, employers must submit employment and business information directly to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) and pay the accompanying $230 CAD compliance fee as part of the LMIA-exempt work permit application process. These requirements will also apply to LMIA-exempt work permit extension applications.

The $230 CAD compliance fee is required in addition to the $155 CAD work permit application fee that is currently applicable to most work permits.

Why was this fee and process introduced?

As part of the ‘Offer of Employment to a Foreign National Exempt from an LMIA’, employers must provide information to IRCC regarding the work being offered to the foreign worker, including the job title, job duties, hours of work, salary, and benefits. The information provided as part of this online submission (i.e. the Employer Compliance submission) would be reviewed as part of an inspection or audit under the employer compliance regime. For example, employers should be ready for inspections or audits that ask whether the employer is providing the foreign national with employment in the same occupation as that set out in the Employer Compliance submission, and with wages and working conditions that are substantially the same as, but not less favourable than, those set out in the Employer Compliance submission.

How does the employer submit the required information to IRCC?

Employers must first set up an Employer Portal account on IRCC’s website. They are then able to electronically fill out and submit the information required for the Employer Compliance submission. In order to submit, the employer must  pay the accompanying $230 CAD fee online. A receipt is then generated and, within a few minutes, the employer will be able to see confirmation on the Employer Portal homepage that the submission was successfully made. Each successful submission is given an associated confirmation number, i.e. the ‘A-Number’. The employer must provide a copy of the $230 CAD payment receipt and the A-Number to the foreign national for them to use when applying for their work permit.