A Labour Market Impact Assessment (an “LMIA”) is an opinion issued by Service Canada which states whether or not the hiring of a foreign worker for a specific job vacancy will have a positive, neutral, or negative affect on the Canadian labour market. A positive or neutral Labour Market Impact Assessment must be obtained in order for the company to be able to hire a foreign worker for the vacancy.
If you are an employer interested in hiring a foreign worker than you need to be aware of the following:
During the six months that the Labour Market Impact Assessment is valid for, it is imperative that you notify the temporary foreign worker that the LMIA was approved and send the LMIA confirmation letter to the temporary foreign worker. If a worker does not applied for a work permit within those six months, then the LMIA will no longer be valid and you must apply for a new LMIA if you wish to hire the foreign worker.
Furthermore, you should understand the difference between the LMIA expiry date, the duration of a LMIA, and the work permit expiry date.
The LMIA expiry date is the date by which a foreign worker must have applied for a work permit
The LMIA duration date identifies the recommended length of time that a work permit could be issued to a foreign worker without negatively impacting the Canadian labour market.
The work permit expiry date indicates how long a worker will be allowed to reside and work in Canada.
Finally, it is important that you advise the prospective employee to make sure that his/her passport is valid for the duration that you want to employee the individual. A work permit will not be issued for a period that is past the expiry date on a passport.
Name Change
The latest ESDC wiki on LMIA name changes can be found here. Perhaps the most interesting change has been that the restriction on one name change has been removed, but employers must send their request to ESDC within a few weeks of the LMIA expiring.