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How We Get Our Data

The source files

The directory is built from one dataset: the Temporary Foreign Worker Program: Positive LMIA Employers List, published by Employment and Social Development Canada on the Open Government portal (dataset 90fed587-1364-4f33-a9ee-208181dc0b97). ESDC releases one file per quarter. This build uses the four most recent — 2025 Q3, 2025 Q4, 2026 Q1 and 2026 Q2 — whose decisions run through June 30, 2026; the newest file was published on October 30, 2026.

How records are processed

Source columns are preserved verbatim. Four fields are derived: the city (parsed from the address), the NOC code (parsed from the occupation string), and the source quarter and year. An employer appearing in several quarters keeps one row per approval event — the history is the point — and profiles aggregate those rows by employer name. Distinct-employer counts are case-insensitive, because ESDC names are typed manually and spelling variants exist; treat the distinct count as approximate for that reason.

What the counts mean

Approved LMIAs counts decisions; approved positions counts the positions on those decisions, including positions later cancelled. Neither counts work permits issued. The list excludes personal names by ESDC's design, so household employers are structurally absent.

Policy figures

Wage thresholds are ESDC's official provincial thresholds (median + 20%), taken from canada.ca's wage-threshold page; where a median is shown on this site it is derived by dividing the threshold by 1.2 and is labelled derived. Program rules quoted in guides and tools cite the canada.ca page they come from, checked November 9, 2026.

Refresh

The build is re-run when a new quarterly file appears (the next is expected around January 2027) or when ESDC revises a published file.