LMIA for Cooks and Chefs: A Step-by-Step Guide for 2026

This is a practical walkthrough of a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) for a cook or chef in a Canadian restaurant, based on the rules Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) publishes as of September 2026. The rules changed in July 2026, so older guides and templates may be wrong. For the wider context, including when an LMIA is not the right route at all, read hiring a Japanese chef in Canada first.

1. Before you start: three checks

Which stream. Compare the hourly wage you will offer with the provincial median wage threshold (effective 17 July 2026: C$36.92 in Ontario, C$38.40 in BC, C$36.00 in Quebec, C$37.50 in Alberta). At or above it, you are in the high-wage stream. Below it, the low-wage stream. Most cook jobs, NOC 63200, and most chef jobs, NOC 62200, are low-wage.

Whether a low-wage application will be processed at all. ESDC refuses low-wage applications in census metropolitan areas with unemployment of 6% or more. For applications submitted 10 July to 8 October 2026, that includes Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa-Gatineau among others. Check the current list before spending money on advertising.

The cap. Low-wage temporary foreign workers can make up no more than 10% of your workforce at the work location. If you have fewer than 10 employees, the maximum is one.

2. Step 1: Set up the accounts and provincial paperwork

• Create a Job Bank for employers account. You need it both to advertise and to reach LMIA Online, the portal ESDC uses for applications.
• In British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan or Nova Scotia, apply for the provincial employer registration certificate now. You have to include it with the LMIA. BC says its processing takes about six weeks.
• In Quebec, the LMIA is submitted to Service Canada and to Quebec's immigration ministry at the same time, and the worker will need a Québec Acceptance Certificate. See hiring in Montreal.
• Gather business legitimacy documents. ESDC's checklist mentions items such as business licences and Canada Revenue Agency tax documents.

3. Step 2: Advertise the job

This is where most of the calendar time goes, and where the July 2026 change hits restaurants hardest.

ESDC announced the increase from four to eight weeks for the low-wage stream on 9 July 2026. It took effect immediately.

Three rules catch restaurants out:

• Job Match invitations. For low-wage ads, you must invite every job seeker matched in the first 30 days of the ad who is rated two stars or more to apply.
• Language. English or French are the only languages you can state as a job requirement in the LMIA and the advertisement. A Japanese restaurant cannot list Japanese as a requirement. Describe the cuisine skills instead: knife work, fish handling, rice, specific dishes.
• Consistency. Keep the title, duties, wage and location the same across every ad and the application. Keep screenshots and dates. Records must be kept for at least six years.

Provincial rules on job ads apply too. Ontario employers with 25 or more employees must include a pay range and must not require Canadian experience. BC requires pay or a pay range in every public posting.

4. Step 3: Fix the wage and the contract

The wage must be at least the prevailing wage: the higher of the Job Bank median for the occupation and region, and the wage range you already pay employees in the same job at the same location. Only guaranteed pay counts. Tips, overtime, bonuses and benefits do not.

Job Bank medians (updated 19 November 2025) give a sense of the floor: chefs C$22.00 in the Toronto Region, C$23.00 in Lower Mainland–Southwest, C$24.00 in Montréal Region; cooks C$18.00 to C$20.00 in the same regions. The job must be full time, at least 30 hours a week, for the low-wage stream.

For low-wage positions you also commit to:

• paying round-trip transportation for the worker;
• ensuring suitable and affordable housing is available, meaning it costs less than 30% of the worker's pre-tax income;
• providing private health insurance for emergency care until provincial coverage starts;
• registering the worker with the provincial workplace safety insurer;
• a written employment contract signed by both sides by the first day of work, in English or French as the worker prefers.

High-wage applications need a transition plan showing how you will recruit, retain and train Canadians and permanent residents. Our contract checklist helps with the rest of the contract.

5. Step 4: Apply through LMIA Online

• When: up to six months before the expected start date, and once the minimum advertising period is complete.
• Fee: C$1,000 per position. You cannot recover it from the worker, and it is not refunded if you withdraw or are refused. If you change streams, you have to withdraw and pay again.
• What to attach: proof of advertising, business documents, the provincial registration certificate where required, and the transition plan for high-wage jobs.
• Processing: ESDC's average for applications in August 2026 was 90 business days for high-wage and 82 business days for low-wage. It announced in July 2026 that food services applications get more rigorous review.

6. Step 5: After a positive LMIA

1. Send the worker the LMIA letter and Annex A. They need both for the work permit application. Note the validity date on the letter.
2. The worker applies for an employer-specific work permit. The IRCC fee is C$155, plus C$85 for biometrics where required.
3. Japanese citizens are visa-exempt and fly on an eTA (C$7). IRCC's port of entry page says visa-exempt travellers may be eligible to apply for a work permit at the border, but check the current eligibility page before relying on that.
4. On arrival, help with the social insurance number, provincial health registration, a bank account and housing. See onboarding a chef from Japan.

7. A realistic timeline

Adding up ESDC's own figures for a low-wage application outside a refused CMA:

That is roughly 24 to 25 weeks, close to six months, from the first ad to a decision, before the work permit. The high-wage stream saves four weeks of advertising but takes slightly longer to process. Plan the hire a season ahead, not a month ahead.

8. Where applications go wrong

• Applying in a refused CMA. Check the list for the quarter in which you submit, not the quarter you started advertising.
• Old advertising rules. A low-wage file with four weeks of advertising no longer meets the requirement.
• Language requirements. Asking for Japanese in the ad.
• Wage below the Job Bank median, or counting tips.
• Charging the worker for the LMIA fee or recruitment costs.
• Forgetting compliance. ESDC reported 1,488 inspections from April 2025 to March 2026, with 12% of employers found non-compliant and 30 permanently banned. Penalties can reach C$1 million a year.

If an LMIA is not workable for your city or wage, look at the IEC Working Holiday route, which needs no LMIA.

General information gathered from official sources in September 2026, not legal or immigration advice. ESDC changes requirements at short notice. Check the linked pages, or a regulated Canadian immigration consultant or lawyer, before acting.