Applications
For workers and employers
For individuals and businesses in Scarborough, Toronto and across the GTA. All immigration pathways are summarised on our immigration law page.
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New work permits
Employer-specific and open work permits, applied for from inside Canada or abroad, depending on your situation and the program.
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Work permit extensions
Applying to extend before your current permit expires, so you keep your status and can keep working while the application is processed.
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LMIA-exempt work permits
Positions covered by trade agreements, intra-company transfers, youth mobility arrangements and other exemptions. We check whether the job and the worker qualify.
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Labour Market Impact Assessments
For employers: recruitment, the wage and the application to Employment and Social Development Canada showing that a foreign worker is needed for the position.
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Changing employers and restoring status
New permits for a new job, requests to start work while the application is processed, and restoration when status has lapsed.
Which permit
Employer-specific or open work permit?
The type of permit decides who you can work for and what you have to do before changing jobs. Getting it wrong is one of the easiest ways to fall out of status.
Employer-specific work permits
An employer-specific permit names your employer, your occupation and often the location and length of the job. You need a job offer, and the employer usually needs either a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) or an LMIA exemption. Working for anyone else, or in a different role, breaches the conditions of your permit. Keep a copy of the permit and read the conditions printed on it; errors on the permit itself should be corrected quickly.
Open work permits
An open work permit lets you work for most employers in Canada without a job offer. It is only available in defined situations, including:
- Post-graduation work permits for eligible graduates of Canadian designated learning institutions. You generally apply within 180 days of confirmation that you completed your program, only one is issued per lifetime, and since November 1, 2024 most applicants need language test results and, for many programs, a field of study linked to occupations in long-term shortage.
- Some spouses and common-law partners. Since January 2025, open permits for spouses of foreign workers and students are limited to spouses of workers in certain occupations and of students in certain graduate and professional programs. Spouses sponsored for permanent residence from inside Canada have a separate route, covered on our family sponsorship page.
- International Experience Canada working holiday participants from countries with a youth mobility arrangement.
- Bridging open work permits for some permanent residence applicants whose permits are about to expire.
Even with an open permit, some jobs, such as work in health care or with children, may need a medical exam first, and the permit may carry conditions.
Why Wannes Law
A Toronto law firm that keeps you informed
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A licensed Ontario lawyer
Rosalie Wannes, licensed by the Law Society of Ontario, is responsible for your file from start to finish.
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Fees before you commit
Instant online quotes and published flat fees, so you know the cost before you retain us.
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Every step explained
Plain-language explanations of what happens, what you provide and what we handle, at every stage.
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Direct access
Reach your lawyer and law clerk directly by phone and email while your matter is underway.
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Sign in person or remotely
Meet at our Sheppard Ave E office in Toronto, or review documents by video and courier the originals.
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English, Armenian and Arabic
Talk through your matter in the language you are most comfortable with.
For employers
How the LMIA process works
An LMIA is the employer’s application, decided by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). A positive LMIA confirms there is a need for a foreign worker and no Canadian or permanent resident is available to do the job.
Wage streams
ESDC compares the wage you offer with the provincial or territorial wage threshold. At or above it, the position is processed as high-wage; below it, as low-wage, with different requirements. You must pay at least the prevailing wage for the occupation and region, or what you pay your own employees in the same job, whichever is higher. Other streams exist for primary agriculture, caregivers, the Global Talent Stream and positions supporting permanent residence.
Recruitment first
Under ESDC’s program requirements for high-wage positions, you must advertise for at least four consecutive weeks within the three months before applying, on the Government of Canada’s Job Bank and through at least two other methods, and consider the Canadians who apply. High-wage applications also need a transition plan showing how you will recruit, retain and train Canadians and permanent residents. Keep records of every advertisement and every applicant; ESDC can ask for them.
Low-wage positions in the Toronto area
ESDC currently refuses to process many low-wage LMIAs where the job is in a census metropolitan area with an unemployment rate of 6% or higher, subject to sector exemptions. Toronto has been on that list in 2026, and the list is updated quarterly, so we check it before an employer spends time on recruitment.
After a positive LMIA
You give the worker a copy of the decision letter and its employment details, and the worker applies to IRCC for the work permit. Your obligations continue for the whole employment: the wages and working conditions in the offer, a workplace free of abuse, and no recovery of recruitment costs from the worker. Employers can be inspected, and non-compliance can lead to penalties and bans.
No LMIA needed
LMIA-exempt work permits
Under the International Mobility Program, a worker can get a permit without an LMIA if the job fits an exemption. IRCC lists who can be hired without an LMIA; the exemptions we look at most often are below.
Employer-specific exemptions
- Trade agreements, such as the Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), which covers listed professionals and intra-company transferees from the US and Mexico
- Intra-company transferees: executives, senior managers and staff with specialized knowledge moving to a related Canadian company
- International Experience Canada Young Professionals and International Co-op categories
- Francophone mobility: French-speaking workers hired for jobs outside Quebec
- Significant benefit and reciprocal employment, for work that brings a demonstrable benefit to Canada or mirrors opportunities Canadians have abroad
What the employer still does
- Submits an offer of employment through IRCC’s Employer Portal and gives the worker the offer number
- Pays the employer compliance fee, unless the exemption category is fee-exempt
- Keeps to the wage, duties and conditions in the offer, which IRCC can inspect
- Makes sure the worker actually fits the category: the job title alone isn’t enough, the duties and the worker’s qualifications have to match
If no exemption fits, the job needs an LMIA. We look at the employer’s side and the worker’s side together before choosing.
Keeping your status
Extensions, maintained status, restoration and changing employers
Most work permit emergencies we see are about dates. Knowing these rules before your permit expires avoids most of them.
Extending and maintained status
If IRCC receives your extension application before your permit expires, you have maintained status: you can generally stay and keep working on the same conditions until a decision is made, as long as you stay in Canada. IRCC recommends applying at least 30 days before expiry. Leaving Canada while you wait can affect whether you can keep working when you return. IRCC explains the rules for work permits that have expired or are about to.
If your status has expired
Under section 182 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, you can apply to restore your status within 90 days of losing it, if you still meet the requirements for your stay and haven’t breached other conditions. You can’t work while the restoration is pending. After 90 days, restoration is no longer available, and the options narrow sharply, so call as soon as you notice.
Changing jobs or employers
With an employer-specific permit, you must apply for a new work permit before working for a new employer, and the new job needs its own LMIA or exemption. IRCC may let you start the new job while the application is processed if you request authorization. Open work permit holders can change employers at any time while their permit is valid. Before you resign, check that the new application is in and, if you rely on Canadian experience for permanent residence, that there won’t be a gap in authorized work.
How it works
From job offer to application
Workers and employers often come to us separately about the same job. Where both are our clients, we look at both sides together.
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Step 1: Identify the route
We work out whether the job needs an LMIA or fits an exemption, whether an employer-specific or open permit applies, and whether you apply from inside Canada, at a port of entry or from abroad. For workers already here, we start with the expiry date on your current permit.
You provide
- Your current permit and passport
- The job offer or employment contract
- Any previous refusals
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Step 2: Employer steps, where needed
For an LMIA, we review the job description, wage and recruitment before ESDC sees them. For an exempt position, we prepare the offer of employment and the explanation of why the exemption applies.
We handle
- LMIA application or Employer Portal offer
- Recruitment and wage review
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Step 3: Prepare and submit
We prepare the worker’s application and check that your education, work history and past applications line up with the job and with what IRCC already has on file. Inconsistencies are the most common avoidable reason for refusal.
You provide
- Identity, education and work history documents
- Reference letters describing your duties
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Step 4: Plan for what’s next
Extension dates, a possible change of employer, and the permanent residence pathways your Canadian work experience may open. We note the key dates so nothing expires unnoticed.
Looking ahead
From work permit to permanent residence
For many people in the GTA, a work permit is the first step toward staying permanently. Planning for that early changes which jobs and permits make sense.
Canadian Experience Class. At least one year of skilled work in Canada (TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3) in the three years before you apply can make you eligible for Express Entry. The work has to be paid and authorized; self-employment and work done while you were a full-time student generally don’t count. Since March 25, 2025, a job offer no longer adds Express Entry points, so your language results, education and experience carry the ranking.
Ontario’s nominee program. Since June 26, 2026, the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program runs through the single Ontario Workforce Priority stream, built around a qualifying job offer from an Ontario employer whose position is approved. Employers who want to keep a worker long-term should look at this early.
Bridging open work permits. If you have applied for permanent residence through Express Entry, a provincial nomination without employment restrictions, or certain other programs, and your permit is about to expire, a bridging open work permit may let you keep working while you wait.
Our permanent residence page explains the programs in more depth.
Fees
Priced to your application
Fees depend on the route and whether an employer application is involved, so we quote after the consultation. You can describe your situation in the quote form. Government fees, including any LMIA processing fee and employer compliance fee, are separate. See our legal fees page for how immigration matters are priced.
Questions
Work permit questions
What is an LMIA?
A Labour Market Impact Assessment is an employer’s application to Employment and Social Development Canada. A positive LMIA confirms that there is a need for a foreign worker and no Canadian or permanent resident is available for the job. The worker then applies to IRCC for the work permit.
Does every work permit need an LMIA?
No. Open work permits don’t, and many employer-specific permits are LMIA-exempt, for example under CUSMA and other trade agreements, for intra-company transferees and through International Experience Canada. The employer still submits an offer of employment through IRCC’s Employer Portal.
When should I apply to extend my work permit?
Before it expires; IRCC recommends at least 30 days before. If IRCC receives the application in time, you can generally keep working on the same conditions while it is processed, as long as you stay in Canada.
My work permit expired. Can I fix it?
You may be able to restore your status if you apply within 90 days of losing it and still meet the requirements for your stay. You can’t work while the restoration application is pending.
Can I change employers on an employer-specific permit?
Only with a new work permit for the new job, which needs its own LMIA or exemption. You can ask IRCC for authorization to start the new job while that application is processed.
Can an employer in Toronto still hire through a low-wage LMIA?
Often not at the moment. ESDC refuses to process many low-wage LMIAs in census metropolitan areas with unemployment of 6% or higher, and Toronto has been on that list in 2026. Some sectors are exempt, and the list changes quarterly.
Does my job offer help me get permanent residence?
It no longer adds Express Entry points, since March 25, 2025. It can still matter for eligibility, for example in the Federal Skilled Trades Program and Ontario’s Workforce Priority stream, and the Canadian experience you gain can make you eligible for the Canadian Experience Class.
Related
Other immigration services
Areas We Serve
Serving clients across Toronto and the GTA
From our Toronto office we act for clients across the Greater Toronto Area, including Durham, York and Peel regions: Markham, Richmond Hill, Pickering, Ajax, Whitby, Oshawa, Mississauga and Brampton.
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Scarborough
Immigration lawyer for Scarborough clients. Our office is on Sheppard Ave E.
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North York
Immigration lawyer for North York clients.
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Markham
Immigration lawyer for Markham clients.
Here to help
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Prefer to talk now? Call (647) 707-7718 · Service in English, Armenian and Arabic