On December 16, 2022 Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) announced that several new Labour Market Impact Assessments (“LMIA”) exemption codes were added and some of the current ones were modified. Although using the right LMIA exemption code is not a prerequisite for a successful application it is good practice that unrepresented applicants as well immigration representatives use the correct LMIA exemption code in their submission letters, as a way to be more specific and clear about the specific work permit category that the applicant should be processed under.
To provide some context foreign nationals can apply for a Canadian work permit through one of these two broad categories: the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (“TFWP”) and the International Mobility Program (“IMP”). One of the requirements of the TFWP is that work permit applicants would need to provide a valid positive or neutral LMIA previously obtained by the Canadian employer issuing the job offer. Whereas in the IMP applicants do not need to provide a positive or neutral LMIA, and some work permit streams will not even require a job offer. It is in the latter scenario where the LMIA exemption codes come into play.
Some of the most frequent LMIA exemption codes that were affected are shown in the table below:
| Category | B to December 15, 2022 | From December 15, 2022 |
| CUSMA Professional | T23 | T36 |
| CUSMA ICT (Exec. or Senior Manager) | T24 | T37 |
| CUSMA ICT (Specialized Knowledge) | T24 | T38 |
| ICT – Specialized Knowledge | C12 | C63 |
Please visit this link to see the full list of LMIA exemption codes. Although they are not changed frequently they could at any given time. It is always good practice to go the official source and locate the exemption code relevant to the IMP work permit application you, as a self-guided foreign worker or as an immigration representative, are planning to submit.
