Success: LMIA

In late 2019, we were contacted by a large Trucking company in western Ontario for assistance with multiple Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs). The company had previously retained another law firm in Winnipeg and they were not satisfied with the quality of professionalism of that firm. (As an aside, that firm has terrible ratings on Google so this is not a surprise.) We reviewed the shoddy work of the previous representatives and prepared new LMIA applications based on our research.

We submitted the new LMIA applications to Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) in January 2020 and the application was approved in February 2020. Processing time: one (1) month only – much faster than average processing time.

Needless to say, our clients were very happy with our work and the positive results. This company can now focus on building business and hiring Long Haul Truck Drivers which is where they should be spending their time & energy. The processing of LMIA applications includes strict guidelines and advertising requirements. As Alastair stated during his presentation at BCIT in Vancouver, if the LMIA is not done properly at first instance, it may be more difficult for this company to obtain a positive decision on future LMIA applications.

NOTE: LMIA applications have a high rate of refusal and we would recommend retained a competent law firm to assist. These applications are assessed based on labour market demands in specific regions and the ability of the company to find and recruit Permanent Residents or Canadian citizens. In this case, our clients could not accept further contracts and they were severely limited in its potential growth. Furthermore, these positions remained unfilled for a long period of time based on the incompetence of the previous law firm, causing unnecessary delays and expenses.

Fast Processing of LMIA Applications

We are very pleased with the work done by the Service Canada Officer with the LMIA approval. Given the previous work and the difficult immigration history, our clients were extremely happy with the fast processing time; however, we believe that if this company had retained us at first instance, it would have been faster.

The LMIA program is often plagued by long delays and onerous reporting requirements.  We were happy with the results with this corporate client and we look forward to assisting other businesses to overcome labour shortages so Canadian businesses can focus on their specialty.