Work permit freeze expands to six more labour markets across the Maritimes, Ontario, and the Prairies

Canada's freeze on work permits has crept over Halifax, Fredericton, Kingston, St. Catharines-Niagara, Regina, and Lethbridge, while remaining in place for 24 previously affected regions.

The freeze has been lifted from Kamloops and Chilliwack.

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From Oct. 9, 2026 to Jan. 7, 2027, employers cannot initiate hiring or renewal of work permits in the affected regions for non-exempt jobs paying less than 120% of the provincial or territorial median wage, according to an Oct. 9 update to the government web page.

The freeze on Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) under the low-wage stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) in areas with an unemployment rate of 6% or higher now encompasses the following census metropolitan areas (CMAs):

CMA	Unemployment rate (%)
St. John's	6.4
Halifax	6.1
Moncton	8.1
Fredericton	6.2
Montréal	7.2
Ottawa-Gatineau	7.9
Kingston	6.3
Belleville - Quinte West	6.4
Peterborough	6.3
Oshawa	9.8
Toronto	7.5
Hamilton	7.4
St. Catharines-Niagara	6.5
Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo	7.6
Brantford	6.3
Guelph	7.5
London	9.1
Windsor	7.9
Barrie	6.2
Greater Sudbury	6.2
Regina	6.7
Saskatoon	6.5
Lethbridge	6.0
Calgary	6.4
Red Deer	6.9
Edmonton	7.6
Kelowna	8.6
Abbotsford-Mission	7.6
Vancouver	7.0
Nanaimo	6.6

The next update for the list of affected CMAs is scheduled for Jan. 8, 2027.

The wage thresholds are as follows:

Province/Territory	Low-wage threshold (hourly)
Alberta	$37.50
British Columbia	$38.40
Manitoba	$31.33
New Brunswick	$31.73
Newfoundland and Labrador	$33.60
Northwest Territories	$48.00
Nova Scotia	$31.96
Nunavut	$45.00
Ontario	$36.92
Prince Edward Island	$31.20
Quebec	$36.00
Saskatchewan	$34.62
Yukon	$45.60

The above thresholds apply to LMIAs received on or after July 17, 2026, as of the time of writing, and are set based on data from the federal government’s Job Bank.

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Exemptions to the freeze are in place for jobs in

primary agriculture;
construction;
food manufacturing;
hospitals; and
nursing and residential care facilities.

There is also an exemption for private households hiring nurses, childcare providers, or personal support workers as in-home caregivers.

By request, employers can obtain case-specific exemptions for temporary and highly mobile jobs such as workers for concerts, carnivals, or fairs.

On Nov. 8, 2024, the federal government hiked the calculation of the low-wage threshold to 120% of the provincial/territorial median. Prior to the change, it had been set at the median.

The federal government put in place the moratorium on Sept. 26, 2024, through denying processing of low-wage LMIAs in affected areas.

A positive or neutral LMIA is required by the Canadian employer for a foreign national to apply for or to renew a work permit through the TFWP.

The LMIA is an official document that validates that the employer was unable to hire a qualified Canadian citizen or permanent resident to fill the position.

LMIAs are issued to employers by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), and then attached by the foreign worker to the work permit application they submit to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

In-Canada workers with soon-to-expire permits can submit their work permit application to be processed concurrently with the LMIA under certain circumstances.

On Aug. 21, 2026, IRCC extended the timeline for concurrent processing from 30 days to 60 days.

Workers who submit their application for an extension before the expiry of their existing permit will benefit from maintained status: they gain authorization to continue working under the conditions of their expired permit until a decision is made on their application, so long as they remain in Canada.

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