(CANADA) — Employment and Social Development Canada released its latest Labour Market Impact Assessment processing times for May 2026, showing slower decisions in most Temporary Foreign Worker Program streams and a sharper improvement in the Permanent Resident stream.

The department listed average processing times of 10 business days for the Global Talent Stream, 22 business days for the Agricultural Stream, 11 business days for the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, 64 business days for the high-wage stream, 61 business days for the low-wage stream, and 114 business days for the Permanent Resident stream.

Those figures are counted after a complete application arrives, not from the first conversation between an employer and a worker. Global Talent remained the fastest pathway, while the Permanent Resident stream stayed the slowest even after improving from the previous month.

A Labour Market Impact Assessment is often the first formal step for an employer seeking to hire a foreign worker on an employer-specific permit. A positive or neutral decision lets the employer show that no suitable Canadian citizen or permanent resident is available for the role.

An approved LMIA does not, by itself, let a person start work in Canada. The worker still needs a separate work permit from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, and the employer must provide the LMIA decision letter so that application can be filed.

That makes the published number only one part of the real wait. Recruitment, LMIA preparation, Employment and Social Development Canada processing, work permit filing, biometrics and an IRCC decision all sit in the same chain.

The government’s posted averages also leave out the advertising period that employers must complete before they submit many applications. Depending on the stream, that recruitment window ranges from 14 days to 8 weeks, and it usually must occur within the three months before filing.

That gap between the posted processing time and the real hiring timeline is most visible in low-wage cases. Since April 1, 2026, employers applying for low-wage positions must advertise for at least eight consecutive weeks within the three months before submission and must also target youth in recruitment efforts.

The low-wage stream now carries an average service time of 61 business days, but the elapsed calendar time stretches well beyond that once the mandatory recruitment period is added. Employers with fixed start dates face a longer lead time than the monthly table suggests.

That also raises the stakes for documentation. A genuine LMIA process requires proper recruitment, employer compliance, the correct wage classification and complete supporting records, which makes promises of very fast approval in low-wage roles hard to square with the rules now in place.

The improvement in the Permanent Resident stream offers some relief for applicants using an LMIA to support a permanent residence plan, but 114 business days still leaves a long gap between filing and decision. Timing can shape work permit expiry, maintained status, Express Entry profile validity and other document deadlines tied to a Permanent Resident stream strategy.

Canada is weighing those timelines against a broader shift in admissions policy. Under the 2026–2028 Immigration Levels Plan, the government set a 60,000 target for the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and a 170,000 target for the International Mobility Program, while aiming to reduce the temporary resident population to less than 5% of the total population by the end of 2027.

That target gives added context to the latest LMIA figures. The Temporary Foreign Worker Program remains the route used when employers need to fill specific jobs and a Labour Market Impact Assessment is required for closed work permits, but the overall direction of policy points to tighter control over temporary admissions.

Employers planning to hire through the LMIA system face a practical test at the start of the process: selecting the correct stream. A wrong choice can delay the case or end in refusal, and processing starts only after a complete application is submitted through LMIA Online.

Preparation matters well before the file is uploaded. Recruitment records, wage details, business legitimacy documents, job duties and proof of a genuine labour need all form part of the package that officers review.

Workers tied to an LMIA-backed offer also need to know where the application stands before making plans around it. The central questions are basic but decisive: which stream the employer is using, whether the advertising period is already complete, whether the LMIA has been submitted and whether a positive decision has been issued.

Verbal assurances do not shorten the process. A real LMIA-backed hiring file involves a real employer, a real offer and documentation that matches the stream requirements.

Some foreign workers may also look outside the LMIA system altogether if they qualify for an LMIA-exempt work permit through the International Mobility Program. Not every Canadian work permit needs a Labour Market Impact Assessment, and the available route can depend on nationality, occupation, employer, a spouse’s status or immigration category.

The latest figures leave a mixed picture for employers and workers trying to map hiring plans in 2026. Global Talent cases still move fastest, the main wage-based Temporary Foreign Worker Program streams require patience, and the Permanent Resident stream has improved without becoming quick.

Anyone building a timeline around a Canadian job offer still has to count more than the posted business-day average. The waiting period begins before submission, runs through the LMIA decision and ends only after the separate work permit process is complete.