There are two kinds of foreign workers in Canada: The ones who need an LMIA and the ones who don’t need an LMIA. LMIA stands for Labour Market Impact Assessment. To put it in simple words, the LMIA must be provided by the employer to show whether Canadian citizens are available, or if there is a need for a foreign worker. The foreign workers who need an LMIA fall under the Temporary Foreign Workers Program.

The TFWP now implements new high and low-wage streams effective from April 30, 2015. This is the chart that will be used by the TFWP to assess the wages given by the employers to the foreign workers:

Province/Territory	Wages effective April 30, 2015 2014 Wage ($/hour)	Wages prior to April 30, 2015 2013 Wage ($/hour)
Alberta	$25.00	$24.23
British Columbia	$22.00	$21.79
Manitoba	$19.50	$19.00
New Brunswick	$18.00	$17.79
Newfoundland and Labrador	$21.12	$20.19
Northwest Territories	$30.00	$30.00
Nova Scotia	$18.85	$18.00
Nunavut	$29.00	$25.00
Ontario	$21.15	$21.00
Prince Edward Island	$17.49	$17.26
Quebec	$20.00	$20.00
Saskatchewan	$22.00	$21.63
Yukon	$27.50	$27.06

Foreign workers falling below the median hourly wage will need to meet the requirements for the Low-wage positions stream otherwise they will have to meet the requirements for the High-wage positions stream.

Unlike earlier, the TFWP now considers wage instead of the NOC (National Occupation Code) as the main criteria for administering the TFWP. This is because wages constitute a more accurate reflection of occupational skill level and local labour market conditions.

The LMIA fees for every temporary foreign worker position requested by the employer will be $1000. New LMIA application form has been introduced from April 30, 2015. Therefore all LMIA applications submitted using the older versions have to be re-submitted in compliance with the new form. The new form is identified as LMIA application –High-wage and Low-wage positions (EMP5602).