Overhauling Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program: A Policy Critique on LMIA Delays

Introduction

Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) is intended to help employers fill critical labour shortages when no local workers are available cfib-fcei.ca. In practice, however, the process for hiring a foreign worker through an LMIA-based stream has become slow, cumbersome, and uncertain. Employers must navigate a multi-step process – from mandatory advertising to Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) approval to work permit issuance – that often stretches well over a year in total. This lengthy timeline poses serious challenges for businesses and puts Canada at a competitive disadvantage in the global race for talent. With nearly 550,000 job vacancies still unfilled in late 2024 www150.statcan.gc.ca, Canada cannot afford a TFW system bogged down by bureaucratic delays. This article provides a critical analysis of the current LMIA-based hiring process, backed by official data, and offers policy recommendations to streamline the program.

The Year-Long Timeline of an LMIA-Based Hire

Hiring a temporary foreign worker via an LMIA (the employer-driven stream of the TFWP) involves several sequential steps. Each step has its own processing time and validity constraints, which cumulatively can exceed 12 months:

1. Recruitment & Advertising (4+ weeks): Before applying for an LMIA, employers are required to advertise the job in Canada for a minimum of 4 consecutive weeks (within the 3 months prior to the LMIA application) canada.ca. This typically involves posting on the Government of Canada’s Job Bank and at least two other recruitment methods to ensure no qualified Canadians are available. In other words, an employer must dedicate at least one month to domestic recruitment efforts by rule, and often longer when considering the time to collect and screen any applications.
2. LMIA Application & Processing (3–4 months): After the advertising period, the employer can submit the LMIA application to Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). LMIA processing times vary by stream and fluctuate with application volumes canada.ca. As of April 2025, average LMIA processing times for standard streams were 61 business days (approximately 12 weeks) for both high-wage and low-wage positions canada.ca. In calendar terms this is around 3 months. Some streams are faster (the Global Talent Stream averages just 8 business days for certain tech roles canada.ca) while others are much slower – for example, LMIAs to support permanent residence applications were taking 214 business days on average (over 10 months)canada.ca. Most employers hiring through the mainstream TFW streams can expect roughly a 3- to 4-month wait for an LMIA decision under current conditions. During this period, the $1,000 LMIA application fee (per position) is tied up, and the employer has no guarantee of approval. Any request for additional information or regional economic conditions can extend the wait further.
3. LMIA Validity (6 months): If and when a positive LMIA is issued, it comes with a ticking clock. Effective May 1, 2024, positive LMIAs are valid for up to 6 months canada.ca. This means the foreign worker must apply for a work permit within that 6-month window, or else the LMIA expires and becomes useless canada.ca. (Previously, during pandemic recovery, LMIAs could be valid up to 18 months, but the government has since tightened the validity period back to half a year canada.ca.) The rationale is to ensure the labour market assessment remains current, but in practice it gives employers and foreign candidates a narrow window to act. Notably, the job start date itself can be beyond the LMIA expiry as long as the work permit application is submitted in time canada.ca. However, the 6-month validity creates pressure: any delay in the next step or a need to reapply for the work permit can render the LMIA moot, forcing employers to start over with a new application if the deadline passes canada.ca.
4. Work Permit Application & Processing (7–8 months): With an approved LMIA in hand, the foreign worker applies to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for a work permit. This is currently the longest and most unpredictable phase. IRCC’s official service standard for work permits (from outside Canada) is 60 days ourcommons.ca, but reality is far different. Actual processing times have ballooned to roughly 225–240 days on average (about 7–8 months) in 2024–2025 for LMIA-based work permits. For instance, as of April 2025, the average processing time for work permit extensions from inside Canada was 227 days iccimmigration.ca, and similar lengthy waits have been reported for new LMIA-based work permits from abroad immigrationnewscanada.ca. IRCC’s own data show that by late 2023, over half of work permit applications were backlogged beyond the service standard – e.g. 55% in September 2023 were taking longer than 60 dayscanada.ca. In effect, employers and foreign hires are often waiting over half a year for IRCC to finalize the work permit even after the LMIA was approved. During this period, the foreign worker’s life is in limbo (unable to start the job), and the employer’s position remains vacant, hampering operations. If the work permit is refused or significantly delayed beyond the LMIA’s 6-month validity, the entire recruitment effort may collapse – a devastating outcome after what is already many months of process.

Combining all these stages, it becomes clear how the timeline can easily exceed one full year: roughly 1 month of advertising + 3–4 months for LMIA processing + up to 6 months waiting on IRCC (often more). Indeed, immigration experts note that after enduring LMIA processing, employers must then “add 237 days of work permit processing once LMIA is approved,” a mismatch that can push the total wait beyond 12 months. In one illustrative case reported by Reuters, a foreign worker’s LMIA application was stuck with no response for so long that her existing work permit expired, leaving her unemployed and uninsured business-standard.combusiness-standard.com – a scenario no employer or worker wants to face. Simply put, the current system asks Canadian employers to plan more than a year in advance to fill an immediate skills gap, an often impractical expectation in a fast-paced economy.

Challenges for Employers: Expiring LMIAs, Unfilled Jobs, and Lost Opportunities

The protracted LMIA process imposes significant costs and risks on employers. First and foremost is the risk of LMIA expiry before a worker can be successfully on board. Because an LMIA is only valid for six months, any hiccup in the work permit stage can nullify the effort. For example, if IRCC’s processing of the work permit drags on and the worker’s application is not submitted in time (or if additional documents are requested past the expiry date), the LMIA approval may lapse before the hire is completed canada.ca. The employer then faces the prospect of starting from scratch: re-advertising the job, paying another $1,000 LMIA fee, and joining the back of ESDC’s queue – all while the position stays vacant. This bureaucratic reset is not only costly but also deeply frustrating for employers who had followed all the rules and genuinely need the worker. It effectively punishes companies for delays outside their control.

Even when deadlines are met, the long timeline means Canadian businesses struggle with unfilled roles for months on end. Industries like agriculture, hospitality, construction, and healthcare – which rely heavily on TFWs – are especially hard-hit. A construction firm that needs a specialized tradesperson or a farm that needs seasonal pickers cannot simply wait 12+ months without impacting productivity. Projects may be delayed or downsized due to lack of labour. In competitive sectors like tech and advanced manufacturing, these delays can mean losing out on talent to other countries. By the time a Canadian employer finally gets approval to bring in a skilled worker, that worker may have accepted a job in the United States or Europe instead, where visa processes can be more streamlined. In this sense, Canadian employers risk losing coveted talent and business opportunities because the window of opportunity closed during the lengthy processing period.

There is also the human factor: many employers invest in recruiting a foreign candidate – conducting interviews, securing a commitment from the individual – only for that candidate to be left in limbo awaiting a visa. Some candidates give up and withdraw due to the uncertainty. Others may experience personal hardships during the wait (e.g. separated from work and income, or from family). Employers then not only lose the hire but may also feel a sense of moral responsibility for the difficulties faced by the worker caught in the system. All of this can deter employers, especially small and mid-sized businesses, from using the TFW Program at all. The administrative burden is already heavy – compliance paperwork, proof of recruitment efforts, and strict rules – and the extensive timeline adds another layer of disincentive. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business reports that many SMEs find the program’s requirements increasingly onerous, and it has called on government to “ensure faster processing times” and streamlined steps to help small businesses cope cfib-fcei.ca.

Finally, the uncertainty of outcome compounds the challenge. An employer can invest a year into the LMIA and work permit process and still end up with a negative result at the end (for instance, if the LMIA is refused or the work permit applicant is denied entry). This all-or-nothing gamble after such a long wait is something many businesses cannot afford. In summary, the status quo of slow TFW processing is undermining employers’ ability to fill jobs that are vital to their operations. It creates a scenario in which jobs remain empty, projects stagnate, and Canada’s economic potential is dampened, even when willing workers have been identified, simply because the system cannot bring them in on time.

Policy Recommendations for a Faster, More Reliable TFW Process

To restore confidence in the TFW Program and better serve Canada’s economic needs, policy reforms are urgently needed. Below are several recommendations that would mitigate the timeline challenges and improve coordination, drawing on common-sense and feedback from stakeholders:

• Extend LMIA Validity to 12 Months: The simplest immediate fix is to lengthen the validity period of an approved LMIA from 6 months to 12 months. This would give employers and foreign workers a much more reasonable window to navigate the work permit process and any unforeseen delays. A one-year validity strikes a balance between keeping labour market assessments reasonably current and acknowledging the practical timelines involved. Notably, during 2022–23, Canada temporarily had longer LMIA validity (up to 18 months) as a policy easing measure cicnews.com. Returning to at least a 12-month validity now would greatly reduce the risk of approvals expiring before use. It would also save ESDC resources by cutting down on repeat LMIA requests for the same position. Moreover, the government’s new Recognized Employer Pilot (REP) implicitly recognizes the value of longer validity – trusted, high-volume employers in the REP can receive LMIAs valid for 36 monthscicnews.com. If three-year validity is being trialed for some, there is little reason not to make one-year LMIAs the standard across the board. Extending LMIA validity to 12 months would immediately cushion employers against IRCC-induced delays and make the program more workable.
• Reduce Work Permit Processing Times to 45–60 Days: IRCC must dramatically improve its work permit processing speeds to meet the needs of the labour market. The current 7+ month timeline is unacceptable and out of line with Canada’s own service standards and international peers. The target should be to process most LMIA-based work permit applications within 45 to 60 days (roughly 1.5 to 2 months). Achieving this will likely require a combination of strategies: allocating additional processing resources to temporary resident visas, investing in modernized processing technology, and perhaps introducing a form of “premium processing” or priority channel for employer-sponsored work permits (similar to the 15-day premium processing available for U.S. work visas). It is encouraging that IRCC has made some progress in reducing backlogs – by early 2025 the overall immigration backlog had declined significantly from 2022 peaks canada.ca – but work permits remain too slow. In fact, IRCC already aims for a 60-day standard in this category ourcommons.ca; it needs to turn that standard into reality by whatever means necessary (hiring surge, overtime, process re-engineering, etc.). One successful model to emulate is the Global Skills Strategy, which offers 2-week processing for certain high-skilled work permits (e.g. those under the Global Talent Stream)ircc.canada.ca. That program demonstrates that fast processing is possible when high priority is assigned. The goal now should be to extend reasonable processing times to all TFW streams, not just elite tech jobs. A 45–60 day processing commitment would significantly increase predictability for employers and make Canada more competitive in attracting foreign talent.
• Improve Coordination Between ESDC and IRCC: A fundamental issue with the current system is the siloed nature of the LMIA and work permit stages. ESDC and IRCC operate sequentially rather than in a coordinated fashion, leading to duplicated effort and longer total timelines. Better coordination and data-sharing between the two departments could shorten the end-to-end process. For example, once ESDC issues a positive LMIA, that information could be transmitted directly to IRCC systems to flag the subsequent work permit application as labour market-approved and perhaps pre-loaded with employer/job details. This would avoid situations where IRCC officers re-evaluate aspects of the job offer already vetted by ESDC. Joint service standards could be developed – for instance, a commitment that within X weeks of LMIA approval, IRCC will issue the work permit. If that window is exceeded, perhaps a mechanism to automatically extend the LMIA or expedite the IRCC decision could kick in, so that one department’s delay doesn’t nullify the other’s work. The government should also explore concurrent processing for trusted employers: under certain conditions, allow the work permit processing to begin (conditionally) even as the LMIA is being finalized, to compress timelines. This could be part of an expanded Recognized Employer system. At a minimum, improved communication – such as a unified case tracking portal for employers – would help. The end goal is a more integrated TFW process where ESDC and IRCC act in tandem rather than in isolation. Such coordination would reduce uncertainty and ensure that a positive LMIA leads to a work permit decision in a timely manner, aligning the two halves of the program.

Conclusion: Strengthening Canada’s Workforce Capacity in a Competitive World

In a world where human capital is fiercely contested, Canada’s ability to mobilize the workers it needs, when it needs them, is critical to the nation’s economic resilience. The current TFWP LMIA process – often stretching beyond a year – is out of step with the urgency of employers’ needs and the agility of Canada’s competitors. The United States, for example, while not without its own immigration challenges, offers expedited pathways such as premium processing that can issue work visas in a matter of weeks. Major economies in Europe and Asia are also streamlining skilled worker visas to attract talent swiftly. China, with its vast domestic labour pool and strategic recruitment of foreign experts, is rapidly scaling industries without the bottlenecks seen in Canada. If Canada’s system remains slow and cumbersome, there is a real risk that global investors and domestic businesses alike will see Canada as less favorable for expansion – particularly in industries like tech, manufacturing, and natural resources where timing is everything.

Reforming the TFW program is not merely about administrative efficiency; it is about bolstering Canada’s industrial capacity and economic dynamism. The policy recommendations outlined above – extending LMIA validity, speeding up work permit processing, and synchronizing ESDC/IRCC efforts – would together help shorten the hiring cycle from over a year to just a few months. This is the kind of reform needed to ensure Canadian employers can access the talent and labour they require to innovate and grow. It would also provide greater confidence to foreign workers considering Canada, knowing that they won’t be left in bureaucratic limbo. Importantly, these changes can be made while still upholding the core principle of the TFWP: protecting the Canadian labour market. Quicker processes and better inter-agency coordination do not equate to lax standards – they simply mean doing the job smarter and faster.

Canada’s prosperity in the coming years will hinge on our ability to fill skills gaps and scale up industries in the face of demographic pressures and global competition. By modernizing the TFWP’s LMIA streams and eliminating unnecessary delays, Canada can better meet its labour market needs without compromising fairness or security. The time for action is now: a reformed, efficient TFW process will help unlock the potential of Canadian businesses, support economic growth, and reinforce Canada’s reputation as a top destination for talent – all of which are crucial as we strive to keep pace with the United States, China, and other leading economies in the 21st century.

Sources: Canadian government policy documents and data (ESDC, IRCC, Job Bank) and other cited references. Sources include official processing time statistics canada.ca, program requirements canada.ca, and public reports on immigration backlogs and reforms canada.cacfib-fcei.ca. All information is grounded in current (2024–2025) figures and policies to ensure an accurate and up-to-date critique.

Author is Harjeet Arora, RCIC-IRB of Fourth Dimension Immigration