Home › LMIA Approved Companies in Canada — How to Use the Full List
LMIA Approved Companies in Canada — How to Use the Full List
The list of LMIA approved companies is a real government publication, not a marketing invention: Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) releases the Temporary Foreign Worker Program: Positive LMIA Employers List on the Open Government portal every quarter. This site's directory is built from the four most recent quarterly files — 37,149 records, 26,462 distinct employers, 132,036 approved positions, covering decisions made through June 30, 2026 and published on October 30, 2026.
What one record actually says
Each record names an employer, a city and province, a program stream (high-wage, low-wage, primary agriculture, Global Talent Stream, or permanent-resident-only), an occupation by its National Occupational Classification (NOC) code, and two counts: approved LMIAs and approved positions. One employer can appear many times — a new record for each occupation, location and quarter — which is why this site aggregates records into one profile per employer with its full approval history.
What being on the list proves — and what it does not
Being on the list proves the employer applied for an LMIA in that quarter and received a positive decision for those positions. It is the best public evidence that an employer can and does hire through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. It does not prove the employer is hiring today: positions may already be filled, and the list always trails real time by about a quarter. Treat a profile as a targeting tool — these are the employers worth watching on Job Bank and worth approaching — not as a vacancy board.
Three limits of the data, stated plainly
- Individuals are excluded. ESDC removes personal names from the list, so household employers — for example families who hire caregivers — almost never appear. Our caregiver guide explains what that means for that sector.
- Positions are not people. The counts are positions on positive LMIAs, including some that were later cancelled; they are not counts of work permits issued.
- Names are typed by hand. ESDC notes that employer names are entered manually, so spelling variants exist; our counts of distinct employers are approximate for that reason.
How to work the list
Start from the sector you can actually do — cooks and chefs, truck drivers and farm work are among the largest — then narrow by province, open the employer profiles with the deepest approval histories, and check those employers' current postings on Job Bank's temporary foreign worker section. Employers with repeated approvals across several quarters are the ones with an established foreign-worker pipeline.
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions
How often is the LMIA approved companies list updated?
ESDC publishes a new quarterly file roughly one quarter after the quarter ends. The current files on this site cover decisions through June 30, 2026 and were published October 30, 2026; the next quarter is expected around January 2027.
Why is an employer I know hires foreign workers not on the list?
Possible reasons: their approvals fall outside the four quarters shown, they hire under the LMIA-exempt International Mobility Program, or they are an individual — personal names are excluded from the published list.
Can I get a job just because a company is on the list?
No. The list shows past approvals, not open jobs. You still apply for a real vacancy — normally on Job Bank — and the employer runs a new LMIA application for the position.
What does 'approved positions' mean?
The number of positions covered by the positive LMIA decisions in that record. It is a count of authorized positions, not of workers who ultimately received permits.
Is this the same list as on the government website?
Yes — the same ESDC quarterly files from the Open Government portal, cleaned and aggregated. The originals remain the authoritative source and are linked from every directory page.