The Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program has announced its annual update to provincial and territorial wage thresholds, which are used to determine whether a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) application is processed under the low-wage or high-wage stream.
The updated wage thresholds were published July 10, 2026, and will come into effect on July 17, 2026.
What Employers Need to Know
Current wage thresholds remain in effect until July 16, 2026. Employers submitting LMIA applications on or after July 17, 2026 must use the new provincial or territorial wage thresholds to determine the appropriate application stream.
The LMIA Online portal will also be updated on July 17 to reflect the revised thresholds.
How Wage Thresholds Are Used
The TFW Program updates wage thresholds annually using wage data from Statistics Canada’s Labour Force Survey.
These thresholds determine whether an LMIA application falls under:
- Low-wage stream: The wage offered is below the applicable provincial or territorial threshold.
- High-wage stream: The wage offered is equal to or above the applicable threshold.
Selecting the correct stream is important, as each has different employer requirements, including obligations related to recruitment, employment duration, and, where applicable, housing and transportation.
Employers planning to submit LMIA applications on or after July 17, 2026, should review the updated wage thresholds once they are published and ensure they apply under the appropriate TFW Program stream.
For more information, visit – https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/foreign-workers/median-wage.html#