The Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) has updated the processing times for the Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIA) applications under various streams.
Based on statistics from all processing centres, the current average LMIA processing times increased for all streams except the PR streams in the table below:
This data still does not reflect the consequences of the LMIA online portal being down for one month. The LMIA process has undergone unforeseen technical issues since Service Canada updated the system to modernize and improve it. As a result:
we have experienced longer than usual processing times for your LMIA applications and other requests such as name additions and name changes
ESDC is asking that, “if you have already submitted your requests, please do not submit another copy to avoid duplication and potential further delay”
Service Canada is says they are working hard to minimize the impact this has and resolve issues in a timely manner
A high number of Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) applications is causing the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) to experience longer processing times. To help estimate how long it will take to assess the applications, they provide recent processing times by stream.
These should be considered when planning for your employment needs:
ensuring your Labour Market Impact Assessment application is complete before it is submitted
responding promptly to Service Canada’s requests for additional information or documentation