Each Canadian province and territory have a median hourly wage as determined by Statistics Canada. High-wage workers are those earning at or above the median hourly wage for a given occupation in specified region. An employer who is offering a wage that is at or above the provincial/territorial median hourly wage should apply under high-wage stream.

Program Requirements

Employers must conduct recruitment efforts to hire Canadians and Permanent Residents before offering a job to a temporary foreign worker. There are minimum advertisement requirements for the program that need to be followed.

Transition plan

Canadian employers seeking to hire workers on high-wage positions are required to a submit a transition plan along with their Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) application to ensure that they are taking steps to reduce their reliance on temporary foreign workers over time. Transition plans are designed to ensure that employers seeking foreign workers are fulfilling the purpose of the program. This entails that they are using the program as a last and limited resort to address immediate labour needs on a temporary basis when qualified Canadians are not available, ensuring that Canadians are given the first chance at available jobs.
Transition plan describes the activities an employer is agreeing to undertake to recruit, retain and train Canadians and permanent residents and to reduce reliance on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. A Transition Plan, valid for the duration of the employment of the temporary foreign worker, is a mandatory requirement to hire temporary foreign workers in high-wage positions.

Working Hours

The employer is required to extend a job offer to foreign national for at least 30 hours per week.

Business Legitimacy

Employers are required to provide documents along with their Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) application to demonstrate that their business and job offer are legitimate.

Low-Wage Positions LMIA

Employer is required to submit an LMIA application under low-wage occupation if the wages offered to foreign national is below than the provincial/territorial median hourly wage. The employers seeking to hire foreign workers on low-wage positions do not need to submit transition plans with their LMIA application.

Key Program Requirements

Advertisement & Recruitment

Employers must conduct recruitment efforts to hire Canadians and Permanent Residents before offering a job to a temporary foreign worker. There are minimum advertisement requirements for the program that need to be followed.

Business Legitimacy

Employers are required to provide documents along with their Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) application to demonstrate that their business and job offer are legitimate.

Cap

To restrict access to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), while ensuring that Canadians are always considered first for available jobs, the Government of Canada has introduced a cap to limit the number of low-wage temporary foreign workers that a business can employ. Furthermore, certain low-wage occupations may be refused for LMIA processing. Employers with 10 or more employees applying for a new LMIA are subject to a cap of 10 percent on the proportion of their workforce that can consist of low-wage temporary foreign workers. However, there are certain exceptions to the cap. The cap is not applicable if employer is hiring a temporary foreign worker for an on-farm agricultural position.

Transportation Cost

The employer is responsible for paying round-trip transportation cost to temporary foreign worker. This cost includes the temporary foreign worker’s transportation to and from their current country of residence. If the foreign worker is currently in Canada, the employer is also responsible for his/her transportation costs to and from their current location in Canada to the new work location in Canada.

Accommodation

The employer needs to ensure that there is suitable and affordable housing available to the temporary foreign worker near to work location. In certain situations, the employer may also be required to provide the temporary foreign worker with suitable housing.

Health and Workplace Safety

The employer is required to provide private health insurance to temporary foreign worker until he/she is eligible for provincial health coverage. It an employer’s responsibility to register the temporary foreign worker with the provincial/territorial workplace safety board.

Employment contract

An employment contract must be prepared and signed by the employer and temporary foreign worker to ensure that all parties involved are aware of their rights and obligations. The temporary foreign worker must sign it before arriving in Canada.

Wage

Wages offered to temporary foreign workers should be similar to wages paid to Canadian and permanent resident employees hired for the same job and work location, and with similar skills and years of experience.

How GSP Immigration Can Help ?