In order to hire a skilled foreign worker as a Canadian employer, you must put up an initial advertisement to hire a local worker with a given set of skills and job requirements. If the Canadian employer cannot fulfill that position after three whole months, he/she must get an LMIA and then look to hire a foreign worker for that position.

The three-month mandatory advertisement proves to the Canadian government that: “there is no available worker in Canada for this job role, and they must hire a worker abroad to fill this position”. Then the Canadian employer must follow all the guidelines set by the ESDC (Employment and Social Development Canada) which is the federal government department that is in charge of the LMIA process.

On which platforms can Canadian employers post their job requirements?

The Canadian employer who is on the verge of hiring a foreign worker must prove that they used at least three of four methods for the recruitment process. 

The first one is the job posting on the Canada Job Bank website, and the other 2 methods can be from the list below:

• Other generic employment websites
• Post the job requirements on websites that specialize in that specific field of the job
• Post the job on a local and national platform such as newspapers
• Place the job requirements in various resources such as community centers, local stores
• Post the job advertisement in different journals or magazines in different provinces of Canada
• Announce the job availability at various job fairs
• Work with recruitment agencies to fulfill the demand
• Reconsider an internal candidate for the new position (internal promotion)

The Canadian employer should make sure that the two other methods of job promotion should have different audiences. 

How long should the job advertisement last?

The advertisement should be online for a minimum of 30 (this must be included in the 3 months of submitting the LMIA application. If an employer applies for the LMIA after 3 months of advertisement, their application may be rejected because they haven’t advertised the job for 30 more days after the 3 months period. 

Our team of experts would recommend you to keep an ongoing activity of seeking foreign workers until they get a positive or neutral LMIA from the Canadian government, this can be time-saving and cost-saving for them.

How to demonstrate proof of advertisement?

To easily get a positive LMIA from the Canadian government the local employer must prove with all the necessary documents that they have made efforts to hire qualified Canadian workers but were unable to do so. The list of documents to be provided are listed below:

• information about the advertisement (where, when, period of time it was advertised for) and a copy of the ad itself.
• Show proof that the methods and mediums used for the job advertisement was targetting the potential candidates in the right and appropriate field, education wise, professional experience, skills, and other factors.
• Show proof of multiple hiring activities, such as participating in different job fairs.

Employment and Social Development Canada recommends that employers save their job advertisement records for at least seven years as they may be asked for them at any time in order to hire foreign workers.

Can there be any variations in the advertisement requirements?

When you post a job requirement on any chosen platforms, there may be changes or variations on the job advertisement that must be done, and these variations mostly happen in the job requirements listed below:

• Education
• Counselor positions
• Entertainment sector
• Caregiver
• Instructors
• Seasonal agriculture workers
• Technicians

How can an employer skip the advertisement part when hiring foreign workers?

The Canadian employer must first check if their company is eligible by the government to opt for the Global Talent Stream (GTS), if yes, then the Canadian employer can skip the online or offline advertisement process and recruit skilled workers from abroad more quickly.

This option is mainly given to employers in the Information AND Technology sector. Through the GTS pathway, it may take the employer around 2 weeks for the process part to get done.

As we know this process can be very tedious, for better and quicker results you can work with our immigration lawyers.

We recommend that you seek professional guidance in selecting a suitable program and accurately completing the required paperwork. This will reduce the risk of error and help you fast-track applications.

Please contact one of our professional agents at VG & Partners to help you on your way.