Ottawa doubles low-wage LMIA length, adds early childhood educators

Employers hiring temporary foreign workers through the low-wage stream can now get approvals that last up to two years instead of one, and early childhood educators have been added to the jobs that can still be filled in cities with high unemployment, the federal government said Friday.

Jobs and Families Minister Patty Hajdu announced the changes to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program on Nov. 6. Both took effect the same day, according to Employment and Social Development Canada.

What changes now

Labour Market Impact Assessments, the federal approvals employers need before hiring most temporary foreign workers, can now be issued for up to two years for low-wage jobs. Applications submitted before Nov. 6 keep the old one-year maximum.

Ottawa does not process low-wage applications in census metropolitan areas where unemployment is 6 per cent or higher, except in priority sectors such as health care, construction and food processing. Early childhood educators are now on that exception list.

The department said Budget 2026 includes $151.5 million over five years to improve service delivery for the program, and $82 million over four years for the Migrant Worker Support Program, which helps temporary foreign workers learn their rights.

What could change in March

Hajdu also proposed a second set of changes that would start March 1, 2027, but only in provinces and territories that opt in:

In large cities, with more than 250,000 people, and unemployment below 6 per cent, employers would get low-wage access only for occupations listed in the federal Canadian Occupational Projection System, plus any jobs a province adds. Provinces could also remove occupations. The same targeted approach would apply in rural parts of large cities and in smaller cities of 100,000 to 250,000 people. Rural communities would keep full access.

Participating provinces could also let eligible employers fill up to 15 per cent of their workforce through the low-wage stream, up from 10 per cent. Priority sectors would keep their 20 per cent limit.

Hajdu said she will meet her provincial and territorial counterparts in the coming weeks. “While Canadians must always be first in line for available jobs, employers in key sectors continue to face labour shortages that can limit growth and affect communities across the country,” she said in the release.

The job market behind it

The department’s release said the unemployment rate had “fallen to 6.5%.” Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey, also released Friday, put the national rate at 6.7 per cent for October, up from the month before. Because the 6 per cent cut-off is applied city by city, the rate in each census metropolitan area decides where employers can apply.

Temporary foreign workers make up about 1 per cent of Canada’s labour force, according to the department. Employers that break program rules can face penalties of up to $1 million a year and bans from the program.

What it means for you

If you run a business that relies on the low-wage stream, applications filed from Nov. 6 can cover two years. If you work in child care, employers in high-unemployment cities can now apply to hire from abroad for those jobs. Workers on a temporary permit can contact the Migrant Worker Support Program in their province for help with workplace problems.