Employment and Social Development Canada updated LMIA processing times on September 10, 2026. Processing time increased for nearly every stream except the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, which dropped slightly. The Permanent Residence Stream saw the sharpest jump, up 70 business days to 156. Employers should apply as early as possible, factoring both processing time and mandatory advertising windows into their hiring timeline.

What Are the New LMIA Processing Times by Stream?

Here is the current snapshot, based on average processing times across all Service Canada processing centres for applications completed last month.

Stream	Processing Time	Change
Global Talent Stream	10 business days	No change
Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program	6 business days	-2 days
Agricultural Stream	25 business days	+2 days
High Wage Stream	90 business days	+2 days
Low Wage Stream	82 business days	+9 days
Permanent Residence Stream	156 business days	+70 days

These figures move monthly based on application volume, so treat them as a planning benchmark rather than a guarantee for your specific file.

Source: Labour Market Impact Assessment application processing times Update

Why Did the Permanent Residence Stream Jump So Much?

A 70-business-day increase is not a rounding error. It usually reflects a real spike in application volume relative to available processing capacity, and it is the kind of shift that can quietly wreck a hiring timeline if an employer built their plan around last quarter’s numbers. Anyone using the Permanent Residence Stream to support a foreign worker’s transition to permanent status needs to rebuild their timeline around 156 business days, not the old figure.

How Should Employers Time Their LMIA Application?

Two windows run in parallel, and missing either one delays everything downstream.

• Submit as early as possible, and up to 6 months before the expected job start date
• Complete mandatory advertising, which must run 14 days to 8 weeks in the 3 months before submitting the LMIA, depending on the stream

Advertising time is not folded into the processing time figures above. Employers who forget this consistently underestimate their total runway by several weeks.

What Happens After a Positive LMIA Decision?

Once Service Canada issues a decision letter, processing time ends. A positive LMIA goes to the foreign worker, who should then apply for their work permit with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, either as soon as possible or within two weeks of their current permit’s expiry if they are already in Canada. A negative decision, by contrast, sends the employer back to the drawing board, often needing to revisit their recruitment efforts before reapplying.

Does Quebec Follow the Same Rules?

Not quite. For positions in Quebec lasting more than 30 consecutive days, an application is only considered complete once it has been submitted to both Service Canada and Quebec’s Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration, in the format the provincial government requires. Employers hiring into Quebec should build this dual submission into their timeline from day one, rather than treating it as an afterthought once the federal side is filed.

Frequently Asked Questions

Hiring a temporary foreign worker and unsure how the new LMIA timelines affect your plan? ImmigCanada can map out your advertising and filing schedule so nothing slips.