British Columbia, Canada (Osoyoos) A foreign national generally needs a LMO (Labour Market Opinion) from HRSDC (Human Resources and Skills Development Canada)/Service Canada in order to work in Canada unless they are work permit exempted or are eligible for an open work permit.

HRSDC/Service Canada ensures that job and career opportunities are protected for Canadian citizens/permanent residents. In general, Canadian employers can hire foreign workers when it will not adversely affect employment and career opportunities of Canadians/permanent residents, or when there are significant benefits attached to the recruitment of a foreign worker.

HRSDC/Service Canada assesses a request from an employer seeking to obtain a work permit for a foreign worker. HRSDC/Service Canada checks to see:

whether a job offer itself is bona fide and not designed to be inaccessible to Canadians/permanent residents
whether a wage and a working condition offered is sufficient to attract and retain Canadians/permanent residents in employment
whether an employer has made responsible efforts to hire or train Canadians/permanent residents for an employment in request.

In general, an employer can extend a job offer to a foreign worker after establishing that Canadians/permanent residents are not readily available. An employer can provide evidence to support either one of the two following conditions:

reasonable efforts were made to recruit and train qualified Canadians/permanent residents for the employment
the foreign worker possesses a combination of skills and experience not readily available in Canada. The employment of the foreign worker is critical for the company to maximize its human resources in creating or maintaining jobs and/or transferring specialized knowledge and skills to the company's labour force.

HRSDC/Service Canada and CIC have developed a facilitated processing for IT specialists in high demand occupations. Under the facilitated processing, HRSDC/Service Canada has issued national confirmations for the following occupations:

Senior Animation Effects Editor
Embedded Systems Software Designer
MIS Software Designer
Multimedia Software Developer
Software Developer
Software Products Developer
Telecommunications Software Designer

Regional List of Occupations under Pressure

Employers wishing to hire foreign workers for occupations that appear on a regional occupation list will only be required to conduct minimum advertising efforts rather than the more comprehensive recruitment efforts (2-3 weeks) normally required. Employers are only required to advertise on the Government of Canada's national Job Bank (or the equivalent in Saskatchewan, Quebec or Northwest Territories) for 7 calendar days or demonstrate that they have on-going, recruitment mechanisms in place (using recognized job internet sites, unions, professional associations, corporate web site, professional journals, newspapers, newsletters). For low skilled positions (skill level C or D under the National Classification System), employers need to advertise on Job Bank and demonstrate they have on-going, recruitment mechanisms in place.

British Columbia Occupations under Pressure List
Alberta Occupations under Pressure List
Ontario Occupations under Pressure List

If you have an employment offer in Canada and would like to know if you are eligible to apply for a LMO (Labour Market Opinion) from HRSDC, please fill out an HRSDC Permit Free Assessment.