The province of Quebec enjoys special permissions when it comes to Canadian Immigration. The Federal Government has allotted significantly more autonomy to the province as compared to the other provinces in matters of immigration. This is one of the reasons why Quebec immigration is often treated differently than the others. For this reason, the province has a few unique distinctions regarding the hiring of foreign workers. Specifically, Quebec enables the simplified hiring of foreign workers through the facilitated LMIA process.
In all provinces outside of Quebec, an application for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) must include evidence that the employer has advertised the job to Canadians and made efforts to recruit a Canadian for the position. The facilitated LMIA process allows Quebec employers to apply for LMIAs without needing to provide evidence that they made efforts to recruit a Canadian citizen or permanent resident to fill the position.
Applying for a facilitated LMIA follows the same application procedure as a regular application for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) with a few distinctions:
Language of Application:All applications for LMIAs submitted in the province of Quebec must be submitted in French, with the exception of LMIAs submitted for In-Home Caregiver positions. ESDC is committed to working with employers to help minimize the impact of this requirement, as required.
Job Advertisement Requirements:The facilitated LMIA application does not require employers to submit evidence that they have advertised the position and made efforts to recruit a Canadian citizen or permanent resident for the position.
Target Occupations:Employers may only submit facilitated LMIA applications for professions in high demand and with labour shortages in the region of Quebec in which they are located.
Submission Requirements:Facilitated LMIA applications must be approved by both the federal and provincial authorities. For this reason, it is necessary to submit facilitated LMIA applications to both ESDC as well as the ministère de l’Immigration, de la Diversité et de l’Inclusion (MIDI).
In order to be eligible to submit an application for a facilitated LMIA, an employer must ensure that the position is on Quebec’s List of Occupations. The list of eligible occupations varies depending on the region of Quebec in which the employer is located.