On July 17, 2026, new wage thresholds took effect for Canada\u2019s Temporary Foreign Worker Program. In Ontario the threshold rose by 92 cents an hour, which does not seem significant. However, for a proposed position that sits close to this cutoff, it can mean the difference between a routine application and one that cannot be processed at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Employment and Social Development Canada (\u201cESDC\u201d) published its updated hourly wage thresholds on July 10, 2026, and they became effective one week later. They are calculated as the applicable provincial or territorial median hourly wage plus 20%, based on Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey data for 2024 and 2025. These new thresholds replace the previous cutoffs, which had been in place since June 27, 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every province and territory saw an increase except for the Northwest Territories, which stays at $48.00 and remains the highest threshold in the country. Nunavut recorded the largest increase nationally, rising $3.00 to $45.00. Among the provinces, British Columbia now has the highest threshold at $38.40, up from $36.60. Alberta rose $1.50 to $37.50. Nova Scotia climbed $1.96 to $31.96, and New Brunswick increased $1.73 to $31.73. Ontario recorded the smallest provincial increase, moving from $36.00 to $36.92.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Please note that these figures are not minimum wages for foreign workers; they are the dividing line between the high-wage and low-wage Labour Market Impact Assessment (\u201cLMIA\u201d) streams. They do not replace the prevailing wage requirement. Employers must still offer wages consistent with the Job Bank median for the occupation and location, and with wages paid to comparable Canadian employees at the same worksite. ESDC also cautions that offering a higher wage is not by itself sufficient to qualify under the high-wage stream, and that adjusting the offered wage to fit a particular stream, or to avoid a program requirement, could lead to a negative LMIA decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A proposed position that pays at or above the wage threshold will be assessed under the high-wage stream. A proposed position that pays below the wage threshold will be assessed under the low-wage stream, which carries a substantially different set of obligations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since April 1, 2026, low-wage applications require a minimum of eight consecutive weeks of advertising within the three months immediately before the submission of the LMIA application. This change doubled the previous four-week requirement for the low-wage stream; the high-wage stream remains at four weeks. The eight weeks must be uninterrupted. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A Job Bank posting is mandatory, as well as a documented effort to target youth. As of April 1, 2026, low-wage employers must document specific efforts to recruit Canadians aged 15 to 30 through channels such as Job Bank\u2019s youth section, campus job boards, vocational programs, or youth employment centres.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Low-wage employers must also use at least two additional recruitment methods that are consistent with the occupation, and each of those two methods must target a different underrepresented group (such as vulnerable youth, Indigenous peoples, newcomers to Canada, persons with disabilities, or asylum claimants holding valid work permits). At least one of the three recruitment activities must remain ongoing until a positive or negative LMIA is issued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Low-wage positions are subject to a cap on the proportion of a workforce at a given location. That cap fell from 20% to 10% effective September 26, 2024. Employers with a total workforce of fewer than 10 across all their Canadian worksites are treated differently; they are limited to one temporary foreign worker where the 10% cap applies, or two where the 20% cap applies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 10% figure is not universal. A 20% cap is maintained for: (1) construction (NAICS 23); (2) food manufacturing (NAICS 311); (3) hospitals (NAICS 622); (4) nursing and residential care facilities (NAICS 623); and (5) certain in-home caregiver positions in a private household under NOC 31301, 32101, 44100, and 44101. However, ambulatory health care services, including physicians\u2019 offices and clinics, are not on the list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The following fall completely outside the cap: (1) on-farm primary agriculture positions; (2) caregiving positions for healthcare institutions (NAICS 62) under NOC 31301, 32101, and 33102; (3) positions in support of permanent residence only where no work permit application follows; (4) low-wage positions in seasonal industries that do not go beyond 270 calendar days; and (5) truly temporary or highly mobile positions of 120 calendar days or less. The seasonal exemption may be used only once per year per work location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027, eligible employers outside census metropolitan areas in provinces that have opted in may retain a higher existing proportion or apply a 15% cap, though participation varies considerably. Ontario, Alberta, and Nunavut are not participating. British Columbia and Quebec have adopted only the retained-proportion measure. Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nova Scotia have adopted both. Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories had not yet responded as of the end of June 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Low-wage LMIAs generally support a maximum employment duration of one year, reduced from two, with primary agriculture as an exception. The stream also carries obligations that do not apply to high-wage positions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For employers in larger cities, a stream change from high-wage to low-wage can become an outright prohibition. As of September 26, 2024, low-wage LMIA applications will not be processed for positions in census metropolitan areas having an unemployment rate that is 6% or higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Available exemptions cover: (1) primary agriculture; (2) construction (NAICS 23); (3) food manufacturing (NAICS 311); (4) hospitals (NAICS 622); (5) nursing and residential care facilities (NAICS 623); (6) certain in-home caregiver positions; (7) positions in support of permanent residence only where no work permit application follows; and (8) truly temporary or highly mobile positions of 120 calendar days or less. The last exemption must be requested in writing and uploaded to LMIA Online with the application. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It should be mentioned that the exemptions from the refusal to process are not the same as the exemptions from the cap. Seasonal positions of 270 calendar days or less, for example, fall outside the cap but remain subject to the refusal to process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
An employer whose position slipped below the wage threshold on July 17, 2026, and whose worksite sits in an affected area, may find that their LMIA application cannot be processed at all. A separate ground also gives Service Canada the discretion to refuse to process an application for any position where the employer has had an application revoked within the previous two years for having provided false, misleading, or inaccurate information. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Quebec employers face an additional layer. Certain low-wage applications in the Montr\u00e9al and Laval economic regions will not be processed until December 31, 2026. However, it should be mentioned that this restriction was proposed by the Province of Quebec rather than the Government of Canada.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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