Two changes to Canada's Labour Market Impact Assessment rules took effect in August 2026, three days apart. Neither was announced with a news release. Both were made by quietly updating a government webpage, which is how most operational immigration policy in Canada actually changes.
One helps employers who run several small locations. The other buys breathing room for workers inside Canada whose permits are about to expire. Here is what each one does, who it applies to, and what to do about it.
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Aug 18
ESDC begins applying the low-wage cap variation per work location, not per company
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Aug 21
IRCC extends the concurrent processing grace period from 60 to 90 days
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Change One: The Low-Wage Cap Is Now Counted per Work Location
Employers using the low-wage stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program are limited in what proportion of their workforce can be low-wage temporary foreign workers. The standard cap is 10 per cent. A higher 20 per cent cap applies in designated in-demand sectors, including health care, construction and food production.
A percentage cap is a problem for very small employers, because 10 per cent of a five-person shop is half a worker. ESDC has long dealt with this through a variation: an employer below the size threshold is treated as having a deemed workforce of 10, which allows one low-wage position under the standard cap, or two under the 20 per cent cap.
The change made on August 18, 2026 is to how that threshold is measured. Previously the variation applied to employers with fewer than 10 employees nationally. As of the update to ESDC's "Program requirements for low-wage positions" page, it applies to employers with fewer than 10 employees at a given work location.
For a single-site business, nothing changes. For a business running several small sites, this is a meaningful difference. A company operating six locations with six or seven staff at each previously counted around 40 employees nationally, sat above the threshold, and had the flat 10 per cent cap applied to it. Under the revised approach each location is assessed on its own, and each qualifying location can support a low-wage position in its own right.
This is the kind of change that matters most to franchise operators, multi-branch restaurants and retailers, rural care operators and small construction firms working across several sites, which describes a great many Alberta employers.
How ESDC Counts Your Employees
Because the calculation now happens location by location, getting the count right matters more than it used to. ESDC's workforce count includes:
| Counted in your workforce | How it is counted |
|---|---|
| Full-time employees | 1 each |
| Part-time employees (under 30 hours per week) | 0.5 each |
| Temporary foreign workers with an approved LMIA who have not started work | Included |
| Vacant positions included in an LMIA application | Included |
Two practical consequences follow. First, positions you have already applied for count against you before anyone is hired, so sequencing multiple applications carelessly can push a location over its own threshold. Second, if you allocate staff across locations, where an employee is actually assigned is now a fact Service Canada may look at rather than a bookkeeping detail. Payroll records, schedules and work location documentation should support the count you submit.
Change Two: 90 Days to Produce the LMIA, Instead of 60
The second change, effective August 21, 2026, sits with IRCC rather than ESDC. It appears in the program delivery instructions on Labour Market Impact Assessment Review for the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, in the section on concurrent processing for in-Canada work permit applications.
Concurrent processing exists for a narrow but stressful situation: a worker in Canada whose permit is about to expire, whose employer has filed an LMIA, and where Service Canada has not yet made a decision. Rather than forcing the worker to stop working or leave, IRCC allows the work permit application to be submitted first and the LMIA to follow.
The window for producing proof of a positive or neutral LMIA was 60 days. It is now 90 days.
The eligibility conditions have not been loosened. To use concurrent processing, all of the following must hold:
| 1 | The applicant is inside Canada and their current work permit expires within two weeks or less |
| 2 | The employer has submitted a complete LMIA application |
| 3 | No LMIA decision has yet been made |
| 4 | The LMIA was submitted with adequate lead time |
That fourth condition deserves emphasis. The extension gives IRCC more room to wait for a pending LMIA; it does not rescue an employer who filed at the last minute. An LMIA submitted two weeks before a permit expires is not "adequate lead time" simply because the grace period is longer than it was.
What These Two Changes Do and Do Not Mean
It would be easy to read these as a general reopening of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. They are not. Both are administrative adjustments that reduce friction inside rules that otherwise remain in place: the caps themselves are unchanged, refusal-to-process rules in regions with high unemployment are unchanged, and recruitment, advertising and wage requirements are unchanged.
What has changed is that a small multi-site employer is no longer penalised for the arithmetic of being counted as one large workforce, and a worker whose employer filed responsibly is less likely to lose status because Service Canada is slow.
What to Do Now
If you are an employer with several small locations: recount your workforce location by location, using the rules above, before assuming you are capped out. If a location sits under 10, a low-wage position may now be available to you that was not available in July.
If you are an employer whose worker's permit expires soon: file the LMIA with real lead time. The grace period is a safety net for slow processing, not a substitute for planning.
If you are a worker in Canada on an employer-specific permit: know your expiry date and confirm, in writing, that your employer has actually submitted the LMIA. Concurrent processing only helps if there is a real, complete application already in the queue.
Axis Immigration Consultants works with Alberta employers on LMIA applications and with workers on permit extensions and status issues. You can read more on our LMIA services and work permit pages, or contact our Edmonton office to review a specific situation.
FAQs
What changed in the LMIA rules in August 2026?
Two things. On August 18, ESDC began applying the low-wage cap variation for employers with fewer than 10 employees at a given work location rather than nationally. On August 21, IRCC extended the concurrent processing grace period for in-Canada work permit applications from 60 days to 90 days.
How many low-wage temporary foreign workers can a small location hire now?
A work location with fewer than 10 employees is treated as having a deemed workforce of 10, which supports one low-wage position under the standard 10 per cent cap, or two positions in sectors subject to the 20 per cent cap, such as health care, construction and food production.
Does a part-time employee count toward the cap?
Yes. Employees working fewer than 30 hours per week count as 0.5 each. Temporary foreign workers with an approved LMIA who have not yet started, and vacant positions included in an LMIA application, are also counted.
What is concurrent processing?
It allows a worker in Canada whose permit is expiring to apply for a new work permit before the employer's LMIA decision has been issued, then supply proof of the positive or neutral LMIA afterward. That window is now 90 days.
Does the 90-day extension apply to applications made from outside Canada?
No. Concurrent processing under these instructions applies to in-Canada work permit applications where the applicant's current permit is expiring within two weeks or less.
Do these changes make it easier to get an LMIA approved?
No. Approval still depends on recruitment, advertising, wage and labour market requirements, and on regional refusal-to-process rules. These two changes affect who is eligible to apply and how long a worker has to produce the decision, not the assessment itself.
