As of April 4, 2025, the Canadian government continues to enforce restrictions on processing Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) under the low-wage stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) in regions with unemployment rates of 6% or higher. This policy aims to prioritize employment opportunities for Canadian workers in areas experiencing higher unemployment.
Effective August 26, 2024, LMIAs for low-wage positions will not be processed in Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) where the unemployment rate is 6% or higher.
CMAs are ineligible as of April 4
These regions will not process low-wage LMIA applications over the next 3 months.
| Census metropolitan area (CMA) | Unemployment rate |
| St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador | 7.6% |
| Saint John, New Brunswick | 7.7% |
| Fredericton, New Brunswick | 6.9% |
| Drummondville, Quebec | 8.0% |
| Montréal, Quebec | 6.7% |
| Kingston, Ontario | 7.2% |
| Peterborough, Ontario | 9.9% |
| Oshawa, Ontario | 8.0% |
| Toronto, Ontario | 8.6% |
| Hamilton, Ontario | 7.3% |
| St. Catharines-Niagara, Ontario | 7.7% |
| Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, Ontario | 8.5% |
| Brantford, Ontario | 7.2% |
| Guelph, Ontario | 6.2% |
| Windsor, Ontario | 9.3% |
| Barrie, Ontario | 7.5% |
| Calgary, Alberta | 7.8% |
| Red Deer, Alberta | 8.4% |
| Edmonton, Alberta | 7.3% |
| Kelowna, British Columbia | 6.7% |
| Kamloops, British Columbia | 7.1% |
| Abbotsford-Mission, British Columbia | 6.2% |
| Vancouver, British Columbia | 6.6% |
| Nanaimo, British Columbia | 6.0% |
To determine if a specific job location falls within an affected CMA, employers and applicants can enter the complete postal code of the work location into the Census of Population tool.
Employers seeking to hire foreign workers in affected regions might consider offering wages above the provincial or territorial median hourly wage to apply under the high-wage stream, which is not subject to these restrictions.
Understanding about a CMA
A Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) in Canada is a geographic region defined by Statistics Canada. It consists of one or more adjacent municipalities centered around a large urban core. To qualify as a CMA, the area must have a total population of at least 100,000, with at least 50,000 residing in the urban core. Adjacent municipalities are included if they exhibit a high degree of integration with the central urban area, typically measured by commuting patterns.
