Canada Removes Time Limit for Work Permit Applicants Awaiting LMIA Decisions

Canada’s immigration department removed the 90-day decision limit for certain work permit applications on October 28, 2026. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada now tells officers to wait until an employer’s Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) receives a decision.

The change covers applications under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, or TFWP. Applicants covered by the guidance will no longer be refused solely because the assessment remains pending beyond the former waiting period.

The rule applies to concurrent processing, which lets an eligible worker already in the country apply while an employer’s assessment is underway. A worker who applies before their existing permit expires can keep working under its conditions while the application is pending. That is known as maintained status.

Only workers near expiry can use concurrent processing

The updated public guidance, titled “Labour Market Impact Assessment Review – Temporary Foreign Worker Program,” reflects instructions for immigration officers. The route is limited to people whose current permit expires in two weeks or less.

Timing also matters. The employer must have filed early enough that it was reasonable to expect Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) could finish the assessment before the existing permit expired.

The employer must also have submitted a complete application, and a decision must still be outstanding. A last-minute filing does not normally meet the standard.

IRCC says it considers requests made after an employer files just before the worker’s application only in exceptional cases. The revised guidance also explains the assessment statuses officers can see in GCMS, the department’s case management system.

Applicants using concurrent processing are told to put CPTS2026 in the intended occupation field, following IRCC’s instructions. The code is for tracking and does not affect an officer’s decision.

Processing times had outgrown the earlier waiting window

IRCC first lengthened the concurrent-processing window from 60 days to 90 days on August 21, 2026. Before the latest change, officers were instructed to hold an application for no more than 90 days while waiting for the employer’s assessment.

ESDC’s national averages show the processing times for assessments decided in each reporting month. Figures are business days, with approximate week equivalents in parentheses.

Those averages count assessments decided during each month, not applications still in the queue. ESDC releases the prior month’s national average, so published figures do not provide a live estimate of current waits.

Employers still need a positive or neutral assessment

Concurrent processing changes when officers decide an application. It does not remove the assessment requirement for a TFWP permit.

Employers need the assessment before a foreign national can obtain a new permit or extend an existing one through the program. ESDC issues a positive or neutral result when no qualified Canadian citizen or permanent resident is available for the position.

The assessment is also intended to test whether hiring a foreign worker would harm the labour market and whether the employer and job offer are legitimate. The employer’s application must still receive the required result.

A refusal can end work authorization immediately

Gowling WLG’s September 2026 analysis described what happened when an extension received a WP EXT refusal after the waiting limit ran out. Maintained status ended, the worker lost status and had to stop working immediately.

The worker could apply to restore status within 90 days. The firm said stricter handling could support IRCC’s goal of reducing temporary-resident numbers, while leaving employers at risk of losing valuable skilled workers.

Gowling advised employers to begin the assessment process well ahead of a permit’s expiry to reduce the risk of work disruptions.