How To Pass LMIA Recruitment And Advertising Requirement: Step-by-Step Guide

To save you time and effort, we are sharing our expertise on how to run a successful recruitment and advertising period in alignment with your LMIA application. A recruitment period is a highly essential element to ensure success in High Wage LMIA, Low Wage LMIA, or LMIA with support for permanent residence. This process is so essential that a simple error or mistake at the beginning of this lengthy journey can lead to an LMIA application being refused.

6 Steps to Pass LMIA Recruitment and Advertising Requirement

Based on our experience, we outlined 6 essential steps to follow to ensure a successful LMIA recruitment and advertising process:

• Step 1: Identify the Correct LMIA Stream
• Step 2: Confirm NOC Code and Wage
• Step 3: Register on Job Bank
• Step 4: Prepare the Advertisement
• Step 5: Choose Recruitment Methods
• Step 6: Recruitment Period and Record-Keeping

Step 1: Identify the Correct LMIA Stream

This is very important because the recruitment efforts will be different depending on whether it is a High Wage or Low Wage stream.

If the offered hourly wage is above the provincial median wage, then it will be a High Wage stream, and the opposite is true for Low Wage stream (offered hourly wage is below the provincial median wage).

The same conditions apply to LMIA to support permanent residence stream – the recruitment efforts will depend on the hourly wage.

Step 2: Confirm NOC Code and Wage

Canada uses a National Occupational Classification system to categorize every occupation under a unique 5-digit code, also called a NOC code.

Your task will be to:

• Look up and find the corresponding NOC code with the position
  • Important tip: if you have a foreign worker in mind, make sure they meet employment requirements per NOC code

• Find the median wage of the position based on the location of work (city)
  • Important tip: the provincial median wage in Step 1 is used to identify the stream of the LMIA and its recruitment requirements. The NOC-specific median wage is the minimum wage that must be paid to the foreign worker – do not confuse the two

From our experience we can confidently say that sometimes finding a correct NOC code can be very difficult, as such we are sharing our best tips and practices to help you with this task:

1. Look at the main duties of the NOC code and compare them with the main duties of the position – majority (at least half and more) need to match
2. Look at the index of titles per the NOC code – are they relevant to the position and contextually make sense?
3. Utilize AI tools such as ChatGPT to provide you with some guidance and direction
4. If you have a foreign worker in mind, ask for their opinion and input as well since they will be directly performing in this role

Step 3: Register on Job Bank

Despite having different recruitment requirements, advertising on Job Bank is a mandatory step for both categories.

You must go ahead and create a Job Bank Employer account – it may take some time to set up the account so make sure to get this done before doing everything else because Job Bank advertisement must have been running for 4 weeks before the LMIA application can be submitted.

Step 4: Prepare the Advertisement

As we mentioned earlier, a simple error in the advertisement or recruitment effort could lead to an LMIA application being refused.

To avoid that, see the mandatory details below that must be included in your advertisements as required by ESDC:

• company operating name
• business address
• title of the position
• job duties (for each position, if advertising is for more than 1 vacancy)
• terms of employment (for example, project-based, permanent position)
• language of work
  • it is important to mention that if you require a person in this role to speak a specific language other than English or French, it will need to be explained as to how this is important for the business
• wage (must include any incremental raises, performance pay or bonuses):
  • a wage range can be used for the purposes of complying with the advertisements; however, the minimum wage in the range must meet prevailing wage
• benefits package offered (if applicable)
• location(s) of work (local area, city or town)
• contact information, including telephone number, cell phone number, email address, fax number or mailing address
• skills requirements (includes education and work experience)

In our practice, we have a working template that includes all of the above information and we use it as a guide for our clients and for ourselves.

Step 5: Choose Recruitment Methods

ESDC lists the following recruitment activities as acceptable:

• general employment websites
• online classified websites
• specialized websites that are dedicated to specific occupational profiles
  • for example: accounting, marketing, biotechnology, education, engineering, etc
• local, regional and national newspapers, newsletters, journals or magazines
• local stores, places of worship, and community resource centres
• local, regional and provincial or territorial employment centres
• participation at job fairs
• partnering with training institutions or offering internships
• professional recruitment agencies
• consultations with unions for available labour
• advertising through professional associations
• recruitment within the company
  • for example, a human resources plan may outline the training opportunities for existing employees, and include:
    • a list of competencies for employees
    • workshops or programs for professional development and career management
    • specific programs to target specific employees for advancement

Whichever method you choose, you must ensure that you will be able to show records such as:

1. the actual advertisement of the position such as a job description
2. date when the advertisement went live
3. proof that the advertisement ran for at least 4 weeks
4. records of applicants and interview notes

Our tip is to diversify your methods, however from practice we can confirm that ESDC is accepting if all recruitment methods were completed online.

For High Wage Stream

You need to advertise on 2 additional sources that are consistent with the occupation, meaning the sources target an audience that has the appropriate education, professional experience or skill level required for the job.

For Low Wage Stream

You need to advertise on 2 additional sources that are consistent with the occupation and target a different underrepresented group: Indigenous persons, vulnerable youth, persons with disabilities, newcomers and asylum seekers with valid work permits.

Step 6: Recruitment Period and Record-Keeping

The advertisements must run for 4 weeks before the LMIA application can be submitted. Job Match on Job Bank must be completed within 30 days from the day when the advertisement was posted.

• For High Wage stream:
  • Any applicant with 4 stars and above must be invited to apply via Job Match

• For Low Wage stream:
  • Any applicant with 2 stars and above must be invited to apply via Job Match

Our best tip is to use a calendar or set up weekly reminders to complete Job Match and review applicants that applied on a weekly basis, to make the work more manageable and spread out across 4 weeks of active recruitment period.

During the recruitment period, you will need to screen through the applicants and divide them in the following categories:

• Those that are from foreigners in foreign countries
• Those that are in Canada on a work permit (only asylum seekers)
• Those that are from Canadian citizens or permanent residents

You must consider applicants that are Canadians or are in Canada on a valid work permit as asylum seekers. Applicants from foreign countries don't have to be considered.

Then, arrange interviews only with eligible candidates that meet the job requirements and take notes of the interview.

If the candidate is not a good fit for the position, take detailed notes as to why you cannot offer this job to them.

If the candidate is a good fit and you want to consider hiring them, you can do so.

You can still proceed with the LMIA application if you strongly believe that the foreign worker for whom you are submitting the LMIA application will bring many benefits to your organization.

If you were able to find a very strong candidate and won't require the foreign worker, then you can also abandon the LMIA process and make an offer to the Canadian candidate.

Our Experience with LMIA Recruitment and Advertising Requirements

We hope that this article was useful for you and your efforts with an LMIA application. Some key take aways that we can share with you from our experience are:

1. If not sure about which NOC code to use, compare the job duties first, and index of titles next. If doesn't help, utilize AI tools and seek opinion from the foreign worker since it is them who will be working in this role
2. When selecting a NOC code, make sure the foreign worker meets employment requirements per NOC
3. Create an advertisement template to include all mandatory information per ESDC requirements – this will allow you to centralize all essential information in one place
4. Try to diversify your sources of recruitment, but from our experience we can say that ESDC will accept online platforms as long as they meet other requirements based on the LMIA stream
5. Set weekly reminders to check on applicants and to complete Job Match on Job Bank

Best of luck!

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.