Work · LMIA required (TFWP)

TFWP: LMIA-required streams

These are the streams on the ESDC TFWP landing dated 10 Jul 2026. High-wage and low-wage use the threshold table on the LMIA guide. An LMIA is not a work permit.

The employer pays the $1,000 processing fee. ESDC says that fee cannot be recovered from the worker. Ontario's current high-wage threshold is $36.92 an hour as of 17 Jul 2026. That figure stays on /lmia with its source and date. This page does not reprint the LMIA guide.

Official vs judgment: the eight stream titles come from the live ESDC landing. "Who uses it" restates that landing. "What it is not" is the practical catch, labelled here as judgment.

Official landing: ESDC: Hire a temporary foreign worker with a Labour Market Impact Assessment.

Last checked 2026-08-25. Live-fetched https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/foreign-workers.html on 2026-08-22. HTTP 200. Printed dateModified 2026-07-10.

Stream	Who uses it	What it is not	Official ESDC link
High and low-wage positions	Employers hiring for a wide range of positions. The provincial or territorial wage threshold on the ESDC median-wage page chooses the stream.	Not an IMP exemption. Not Global Talent Stream. The Ontario $36.92 threshold as of 17 Jul 2026 stays on the LMIA guide with its source and date.	Official page
Primary agriculture positions	Employers hiring an agricultural temporary foreign worker in occupations and activities related to primary agriculture.	Not every food job in Canada. If the commodity is not on the national list, ESDC points those hires to high-wage or low-wage agriculture instead.	Official page
Applications to support permanent residency	Employers hiring a skilled temporary foreign worker to support that worker's permanent residence through an immigration program.	Not the permanent residence visa. It is still an ESDC labour-market opinion.	Official page
Global Talent Stream	Employers hiring uniquely skilled talent or in-demand workers to scale up and grow the business.	Not the ordinary high-wage LMIA stream. Confirm Category A or B on the official ESDC page.	Official page
Caregiver positions	Employers hiring a temporary foreign worker to care for children, seniors, or persons with medical needs.	Not the caregiver permanent residence pilots. Those can be IMP codes. This row is the TFWP in-home caregiver LMIA.	Official page
Foreign academic positions	Degree-granting post-secondary educational institutions in Canada hiring a foreign academic.	Not every teaching job in Canada. The official landing limits this stream to those institutions.	Official page
Hiring in the province of Quebec	Employers hiring temporary foreign workers for positions in Quebec through regular or facilitated processes.	Not a PNP. Quebec LMIA wages also use a MIFI table. Dollar figures stay on the official pages and the LMIA guide.	Official page
Recognized Employer Pilot New intake closed 16 Sep 2024	Employers already enrolled in the pilot who can still use a simplified online LMIA.	Not an open intake. ESDC closed new applications to participate on 16 Sep 2024. Already recognized employers can still access the simplified LMIA.	Official page