The Basics of Owner-Operator LMIA

For starters, you need to know what LMIA is to understand how your request to get a work permit via owner-operator LMIA works.

So what’s LMIA?LMIA stands for Labor Market Impact Assessment. Itpermits Canadian companiesto hire foreign employees after they’ve passed the standard recruitment procedure. It is conducted by two government organizations: the Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship in Canada (IRCC).
The assessment proves that Canadian applicants lack the skills or expertise to meet the company’s requirements. It also looks at the benefits and profit a foreign employee will bring to the country’s economy. They have to do this by advertising their job openings on various recruitment platforms and also going through a proper hiring process to find the right candidate. Once their attempts to hire someone from Canada fail, then the government accepts the Canadian company’s plea. After this, they’re allowed to recruit employees from other countries.

The main idea is to make sure that the immigrant workers aren’t filling in positions that could easily be taken by Canadian residents.
So what’s owner-operator LMIA?
Owner-operator LMIA is an exception to this process. Instead of analyzing the significance of a single candidate they look into your business proposal. If the government feels that your business is valuable enough for their economy, then they’ll allow you to set up shop here.

How to Get Started?

The terms and conditions for applying to Canada through this pathway are quite simple. The owner in question should display leadership skills, interests and the business acumen to work in the relevant industry. Plus, your average salary at your old job must be higher or equal to the managerial post you’ll have in Canada. Apart from that, they must prove that their arrival in Canada will benefit the economy. This can be done by opening up new job opportunities for the residents of Canada or retaining them. In addition to that, their business is supposed to be innovative or at least have the ability to teach new skills to the Canadian employees. Lastly, the applicant should be the owner of the company in question. It means that they aren’t a ‘puppet’ in the hands of other shareholders. As that would mean that they’re operating on someone else’s instructions. It would also mean that they could get fired from their position anytime. Both things instantly nullify their authority in the company they created in Canada. The last rule prevents individuals from securing a positive LMIA under false pretenses.