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Canada raises barriers for employers hiring immigrants
The new rules came into force on April 1 and require places a higher compliance burden on employers.
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Jeffin T. Kaleekal - Mon, 06, Apr 2026
- 06:01 EDT
- 14
Representative image / Pexels
Canada has introduced changes to its Temporary Foreign Worker Program in an attempt to force employers into prioritising hiring of citizens and permanent residents over foreign workers.
The updated rules apply specifically to low-wage roles and are aimed at protecting the country's labour markets.
The Canadian government notified changes to the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) applications. The new rules require employers to make reasonable efforts to recruit youth aged 15 to 30, before hiring a foreign worker. Additionally, they need to demonstrate that an effort was made to encourage young candidates to apply.
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Additionally, employers are also required to advertise job vacancies for at least eight consecutive weeks, up from the earlier four-week requirement. Employers would be allowed to submit LIMA applications if they have met the four-week advertisement criterion within three months before submitting an LMIA application.
The employers will now also have to provide proof of such advertisements, they need to submit a copy of the advertisement and information to support where, when and for how long the position was advertised.
The advertisements need to be mandatorily posted on youth sections of Job Bank and other youth-focused job boards. It also requires employers to engage with schools or colleges, participating in youth employment programmes, or using platforms commonly used by younger job seekers.
These steps are additional to existing recruitment requirements and do not replace them.
The stricter compliance requirements put forth is a part of the Canadian government's renewed push to reduce immigration. In the recent past, the Canadian government has significantly cut immigration targets for 2026–2028, sharply reducing new temporary residents, including international students and workers, from 673,650 in 2025 to 385,000 in 2026.
This move aims to lower the temporary resident population to below 5 percent of Canada’s total population by the end of 2027, ease pressure on housing, healthcare, and public services, while keeping permanent resident admissions stable at around 380,000 per year.
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