Canada plans to tighten up norms for permanent residency

Those job offers fall under the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), a document prospective employers have to procure prior to hiring a foreign worker. For those seeking permanent resident or PR status, having the job offer can add 50 points at the minimum to their score, elevating their chances of qualifying under the Express Entry category.

The projected change was announced by Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Marc Miller during a press conference in Ottawa on Tuesday.

Miller said the government was planning to introduce “further measures” to “reinforce programme integrity and reduce LMIA fraud such as removing additional points that candidates receive for Express Entry for having a job offer.”

“This measure is expected to remove the incentive for candidates to purchase an LMIA resulting in increased fairness and integrity in the system,” he added.

LMIA fraud has been a topic of discussion in Canada over recent months as the government has sought to curb immigration and clean up the system. There have been multiple anecdotal reports of unscrupulous immigration agents working with employers to generate LMIAs, after prospective employees pay sums ranging from CA$ 10,000 to nearly CA $ 75,000. Some prospective immigrants have told the Hindustan Times of these demands for processing the LMIA.

Once the employer receives a “positive” LMIA, they can apply for a formal letter from Immigration, Refugees and Immigration Canada (IRCC) and thereafter, it can be used by the prospective employee to either secure a work permit to enter Canada.

The Express Entry stream for immigration is an online system that IRCC uses to manage immigration applications from skilled workers and three programmes are managed through it: Canadian Experience Class, Federal Skilled Worker Program and the Federal Skilled Trades Program.

According to the outlet Financial Post, nearly 71,300 LMIAs were approved by the government in the first quarter of 2024 as against 63,300 during the same period in 2023.

Naresh Chavda, president of Globayan Immigration Corporation felt the measure would “definitely help to reduce LMIA fraud and reduce direct immigration which is current government goal”.

He stressed there were thousands of genuine LMIA workers who were high skilled or with unique skillsets in demand in Canada and they and their employers could “suffer” due to this decision, with its ramifications for the country’s economy.

“So, to prevent fraud, the Government of Canada needs to improve the screening process and other measures and not to cut the LMIA category for Express Entry fully,” he argued.

Immigration analyst Darshan Maharaja pointed out that the “sale” of LMIAs were “blatantly advertised on social media” and “distorted labour markets”.

The government has given no time frame for the necessary legislative change, and Maharaja was sceptical of the effort, saying, “The removal of points for LMIA’s will begin to undo this serious damage, by eliminating the incentive to buy it to secure permanent residency in Canada. However, it should be noted that the enormity of this damage is such that it would be prudent to keep expectations in check.”