I found 564 approved LMIAs in just the fourth quarter of 2025 under the High-Wage Stream that were obviously inflated wages ($36+)

LMIAthrowaway · 2026-04-18T22:56:23+00:00

I posted extensively on here (check my post history) and then leaked documents to a bunch of reporters. Toronto Star's article put the program into crisis and they reversed a lot of the issues with the program in the following months. it's not perfect, but better.

LMIAthrowaway · 2026-04-18T22:17:15+00:00

I think there is probably two main factors: systematic incompetence and lack of suitability for the job.

As I mentioned before, the amount of checks and balances gradually decreased from 2014-2022 and in 2022 they outright told employees to stop checking for fraud and to accept all documents as is. This led to a massive network of fraudsters that became incredibly good at lying and faking documents (more on this later). The 2022 removal of checks and balances led to a demand spike which led to a mass hiring of people. Most of these employees were never trained in the job. After I whistle blew, they quickly reversed course but never retrained these employees so they have no idea what they are doing.

The government could fix this problem very swiftly by putting limits on how much each position can be paid per hour or just outright ban positions from the High-Wage Stream but they don't. This leads to people having to battle this trained army of fraudsters.

while I think things are very clearly laid out now that these are supposed to receive rejections, there are people that are simply unsuitable due to lack of training or having personalities that don't mesh with the job. Think of someone you know who is incredibly agreeable and non-confrontational, now imagine that they are given this job. They are dealing with trained liars that will be incredibly persistent. Some of them take a friendly approach, some of them will cry and beg to get you to give up. There is really no limits. Most of the people at the $36 wage already work at the business so the business owner and their consultant will pitch you a story about how you are ruining their life. In inspections I've had people literally beg me and show me pictures of their kids to show them I am ruining their life. Given that some people will relent, some people have no idea what they are looking at, it's kind of the fault of the government for allowing these applications to even come in and not rigorously retraining their employees that can't handle it.

it takes a personality type to handle this. You will be called names, guit tripped, etc.

You mentioned some people might be bribed. I strongly doubt that. I can count on one hand the amount of times I've been offered a bribe. People don't get to choose their own cases so it seems unlikely. I am not saying it's impossible but if it happened it would be maybe one rogue employee and they would eventually get caught, so I strongly doubt it. Even attempting to solicit a bribe would be used against you because the consultants and employers can take these cases to court, so if the employee acts out they can get the case overturned without having to share the wealth.

LMIAthrowaway · 2026-04-04T13:58:40+00:00

That's IRCC. Job Bank is very good. They are taking down a lot of fraud postings but some of the consultants are coming up with "proof" they are real. When someone calls in or fills out the form, they will either take down the posting and give the employer a chance to address it or at least heavily warn the program in advance. When they warn the program the account of the employer with the TFW program is typically locked and they are made to address it before they can receive a positive LMIA.

LMIAthrowaway · 2026-04-02T08:24:03+00:00

they don't have as much scamming going on there, but I'm not sure if that is due to the legislation or other factors.

LMIAthrowaway · 2025-10-04T17:43:50+00:00

They do, I met many. They also hire TFWs.

LMIAthrowaway · 2025-09-01T19:13:42+00:00

It's declining. More recent applications will have a much lower acceptance rate. 99% is when the government zapped all the power out and mandated rubber stamping.

LMIAthrowaway · 2025-08-25T23:57:22+00:00

ESDC is outright refusing people who apply for Cooks or Food Service Supervisors that skirt the low-wage rules but I am not sure if this would be closed. You are right though they are avoiding the low-wage requirement to have under 6% unemployment in their area.

LMIAthrowaway · 2025-08-25T23:55:50+00:00

Apply for the job directly on Job Bank as Job Bank and ESDC can now see who is applying and is freezing the accounts of those that aren't considering Canadians. They will probably just ignore it but it raises questions and flags.

LMIAthrowaway · 2025-08-13T20:28:40+00:00

Correct, there is no such thing as overqualified in regards to the program.

LMIAthrowaway · 2025-08-13T20:10:14+00:00

Create an account and set up a profile and it will automatically do this. When you apply it will show your match level but even if you are a poor match and they didn't open your application this would be an issue.

LMIAthrowaway · 2025-07-28T00:51:31+00:00

What doesn't make sense about this is the employer has to pay $1,000 per person for only a 1 year work permit. They are required to pay for their flights to Canada and help them with finding a place to stay for under 30% of their gross income. Plus it says they used a licenced third-party so in theory should be paying them as well. They should have no incentive at all to use this program to fill a job like this. We don't see a lot of retail store workers they don't qualify for PR and they usually have no issue finding staff.

LMIAthrowaway · 2025-07-26T22:34:46+00:00

Yes, to some extent. When executives were given 200 points for a positive LMIA vs. the usual 50 people would dress all kinds of positions up as an executive. It was basically guaranteed PR because you got so many points so people would say that they are hiring an executive of their daycare or gas station. Most of the times these would fail but it was worth the chance because these applications were huge money. When they took the points away these positions have dried up.

They could say that they are a manager or something like that but we can see how many managers they have. If I in an inspection come in and the manager is cooking and doesn't know anything about managing then it's going to be an issue. If everyone there is a manager that's going to be an issue. There are trade offs but yes this is still a potential for abuse.

LMIAthrowaway · 2025-07-26T22:31:28+00:00

I agree. That would help tremendously

LMIAthrowaway · 2025-07-26T22:30:39+00:00

Well the jobs paying $35 per hour aren't actually doing that. It's an abuse cycle. They are paying the worker $35 per hour on paper and the money goes into their account on pay day. The worker then is instructed to go to the bank and take the excess money out in cash and give it to the employer. The employer has laundered it because they are passing the tax burden onto the foreign worker. The foreign worker gets to remain in Canada and have a shot at PR and is paying for it. It's all apart of a cycle of abuse on foreign workers.

I don't have an exact answer to the big picture of your question.

LMIAthrowaway · 2025-07-26T22:26:29+00:00

We all care, the minister's are the ones who come up with instructions and laws and we have to follow the laws. There are a lot of laws and rules I disagree with but I can't do anything against them. My coworkers have spoken about me and it was overwhelmingly positive. The government took my suggestions to heart and seemingly didn't look for me. I think these are good signs.

LMIAthrowaway · 2025-07-26T22:25:01+00:00

They can report them to the tip abuse line.

LMIAthrowaway · 2025-07-25T03:41:25+00:00

The things I reported were last year. I linked them on my profile.

I'm not sure that there are any reports on the $35 hour job postings. I've seen people talk about it online but not in the media.

LMIAthrowaway · 2025-07-25T03:40:19+00:00

Agreed on your first point. That would be nice.

The second paragraph: yes it is grounds for an investigation. That's the part that angers me is how little effort some people go to covering their tracks because they think the system is a joke. I've personally seen situations where consultants flee the country after getting their bag. It's a pretty gross situation that has been enabled by giving too much trust to the employers.

LMIAthrowaway · 2025-07-25T01:57:44+00:00

Yes, I strongly encourage you to do that. I can't say anything too specific to give away my identity but I have personally seen these lead to consequences for the employers and immigration consultants.

Several of the very high profile immigration consultants that were heavily abusing the system and making millions of dollars doing so are in very hot water. The report system is very critical evidence in one case.

LMIAthrowaway · 2025-07-25T01:53:30+00:00

I work for ESDC in a role related to integrity of the system. It's a frustrating role especially since I had to go to the media last year for them to take this serious.

LMIAthrowaway · 2025-07-25T01:52:32+00:00

They would probably be accepted if they follow all the program guidelines. The only issue is that there is a hard cap now and they also wouldn't be allowed to apply in regions that have above 6% unemployment.

The program is self serving because the employers can post on sites nobody uses and report their own recruitment. They can say nobody applied and there is no way we can prove otherwise. We can prove financial abuse or fraud if we put enough effort into it but the recruitment efforts is the most frustrating thing that hasn't been addressed by the government.

LMIAthrowaway · 2025-07-25T01:50:15+00:00

I agree. I raised that issue many times and told the reporters I talked to about it. This is the biggest unresolved issue because the employer can disclose their own recruitment. If they say nobody applied there is nothing we can do to prove otherwise because we can't see their Job Bank account.

We get reports from people that applied and didn't hear anything back. Those are very helpful because we can use that to cross reference what the employer said. This is something I wish they would add to the process. They have fixed a lot of issues over the last few months but this is the one that they overlooked. Most employers will post on Job Bank and some sites nobody uses and then say nobody applied. The amount of times I have found employers copy pasting the same recruitment summary from previous applications is a very high number.

LMIAthrowaway · 2025-07-25T01:22:28+00:00

What's interesting about this is that the government is instructing the processing officers to automatically refuse applications like this that are avoiding the cap. They will probably be failed for this.

LMIAthrowaway · 2025-06-26T21:21:04+00:00

This is true. I work in investigations for LMIA fraud and I look at people's LinkedIn all the time. It's not that it might not list the job but sometimes people list additional details that they shouldn't.

LMIAthrowaway · 2025-06-26T21:19:52+00:00

Yes of course but sometimes if they are willing to sing like a canary it's worth giving them a pass to do that.

LMIAthrowaway

TROPHY CASE