High-wage and low-wage streams

The wage the employer offers decides whether the LMIA goes in the high-wage or low-wage stream. Each stream comes with different obligations.

Hourly wage thresholds

The threshold is the province's median hourly wage plus 20%, based on Statistics Canada's Labour Force Survey. For LMIAs received from July 17, 2026:

At or above the threshold: high-wage stream. Below it: low-wage stream.

	High-wage	Low-wage
Employment duration	Up to 3 years (longer with justification)	Up to 1 year
Transition plan	Required	Not required as in the high-wage stream
Round-trip airfare	As per contract	Paid by the employer, not recoverable
Housing	As per contract	Employer ensures suitable housing costing under 30% of pre-tax income
Proportion cap	None	Max 10% low-wage foreign workers at a location (20% in some sectors such as construction, food manufacturing, hospitals)
High-unemployment cities	Not affected	No processing in metropolitan areas with unemployment of 6% or more (with exceptions)

ESDC stresses that simply raising a foreign worker's wage to reach the high-wage stream isn't enough. Wages must match what Canadians are paid for the same job, location, skills and experience. Adjusting wages to avoid requirements can lead to refusal.
In both streams, the employer must buy private health insurance for any period before provincial coverage starts (where applicable), without charging the worker.

Note Thresholds are updated every year. Check the current table on ESDC's site.