Low-wage LMIA caps are now counted per work location — a real opening for multi-site employers
Effective August 18, 2026, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) changed how the low-wage temporary foreign worker cap is calculated. The key shift: the cap is assessed per work location, not across the whole company — a meaningful opening for employers running several small sites.
What changed
The low-wage LMIA stream has always had a hiring cap: low-wage foreign workers can't exceed 10% of the workforce at a work location (20% in designated sectors such as construction, food manufacturing, hospitals and care facilities). That math was brutal for small sites — at a location with 7 staff, 10% works out to "0.7 workers," effectively zero.
A special rule existed for this (locations under 10 employees are treated as having a workforce of 10), but in practice it only helped genuinely small businesses. Under the update, that rule now applies at each individual work location. Even if your company employs many people overall, a location with fewer than 10 employees is assessed on its own.
| Scenario | What applies |
|---|---|
| Location with fewer than 10 employees | Up to 1 low-wage foreign worker (under the 10% cap) |
| Under 10 employees + designated sector | Up to 2 workers (20% cap) — construction (NAICS 23), food manufacturing (311), hospitals (622), nursing & residential care (623), certain in-home care occupations |
| Location with 10+ employees | Unchanged — 10% (or 20%) of that location's workforce |
What hasn't changed
This is a change to how the cap is counted — not a loosening of the low-wage stream's other rules. A few things still apply in full.
First, the moratorium on low-wage LMIA processing in metropolitan areas with 6%+ unemployment (in place since September 2024) continues — where your site sits determines whether you can file at all. Second, low-wage vs. high-wage is determined by the provincial wage threshold (120% of the provincial median wage), updated annually. Third, the low-wage stream's specific obligations — housing support, round-trip transportation, worker-protection requirements — remain. And the counting details matter: part-time staff count as 0.5 employees, so if a location sits near the boundary (9–11 staff), the math deserves careful attention.
Whether a position lands in the low-wage or high-wage stream changes your advertising requirements, duration and obligations entirely. For the full picture, see our Work Permits & LMIA services.
Program requirements for low-wage positions (canada.ca — updated 2026-08-18)
Related coverage: CIC News (August 2026)
This article is general information based on sources available at the time of writing, and is not legal advice for any specific case. Program requirements change — always confirm against the official pages before applying.