Overview
Understand the pathway before you act.
Eligibility, timing, evidence and risk should be assessed together before an application or response is prepared.
Employer immigration compliance begins before a foreign worker starts and continues throughout employment. The LMIA, Employer Portal offer, employment agreement, payroll and actual working conditions should tell the same story. Workforce planning adds a longer view so urgent hiring decisions do not create avoidable immigration or compliance problems.
Compliance reviews and inspections
Employers in the Temporary Foreign Worker Program must keep relevant records for six years beginning on the first day of the authorized employment period. Records should support the job, wage, duties, work location, recruitment, workplace conditions and every commitment made in the LMIA process.
International Mobility Program employers can also be inspected. The employer that submitted the offer remains responsible for meeting the wages, occupation, duties and working conditions in that offer and for complying with applicable federal and provincial laws.
Inspections may be selected randomly, because non-compliance is suspected or because of an employer’s earlier history. Officers may request documents, interview the employer or worker and inspect the workplace. Findings can lead to warnings, monetary penalties, program bans, publication of the employer’s name or effects on pending applications, depending on the circumstances.
Respond to an inspection notice by preserving records, confirming the response deadline and identifying any difference between the immigration filing and actual employment. Do not alter or recreate records after the fact.
Where a justified event made compliance impossible, or an error is identified before inspection, the available explanation or voluntary-disclosure process should be assessed on the specific facts. Neither route guarantees that a finding or consequence will be avoided.
Workforce immigration planning
Workforce planning maps the position, candidate, hiring date and operational need to the correct immigration path. It should account for LMIA or exemption eligibility, recruitment lead time, provincial registration, work-permit expiry, family needs, permanent-residence options and contingency plans.
A useful plan also assigns responsibility for portal access, record retention, deadline monitoring, changes to duties or location, renewals and communication with the worker. Immigration advice does not replace employment, tax, occupational licensing or workplace-safety advice.
How Beyond Borders Law can help
- Audit LMIA, Employer Portal and employment records before an inspection.
- Prepare accepted responses to document requests and compliance reviews.
- Assess changes in wage, duties, location or corporate structure.
- Build hiring and renewal plans for individual or recurring foreign-worker needs.
- Coordinate employer and worker applications while keeping the scopes clear.
Gather LMIA decisions or Employer Portal offers, work permits and employment agreements, payroll, time, benefits and leave records, recruitment records, job descriptions and workplace policies, corporate changes, inspection correspondence, and a chronology of any variance from the filed offer.
Official information: Temporary Foreign Worker Program compliance and International Mobility Program inspections.
This guide provides general information. An inquiry does not create a lawyer-client relationship. Advice and representation begin only after the firm confirms scope and a retainer is completed.