CICC Licence R709592 · MAK Canadian Immigration Services
Last reviewed: August 2026
Official IRCC/ESDC sources checked: August 15, 2026
Your Employer’s LMIA Was Refused: What Happens to Your Work-Permit Plan Now?
A negative LMIA is an ESDC and Service Canada decision on the employer’s LMIA application, while a work permit is a separate IRCC decision. A negative LMIA cannot be used as the positive-LMIA support normally required for an LMIA-based work-permit application. Where a permit has already been issued, the practical effect depends on the permit itself and any IRCC correspondence rather than a blanket rule.
You have just been told the Labour Market Impact Assessment came back negative. The first thing to understand is that two different federal bodies are involved, and they decide different things. Service Canada, part of ESDC, decides the employer’s LMIA application. IRCC decides work permits.
That distinction is not a technicality. It determines what the refusal actually changes for you, and what it does not. The answer depends heavily on where you are standing right now, so work through the situations below and find yours before acting.
First identify which situation you are actually in
The correct next step changes completely depending on whether you:
- are outside Canada and have not received a work permit;
- are in Canada with an employer-specific permit that is still valid;
- applied to extend or change a permit before expiry and the application relied on the LMIA that was refused;
- have already lost temporary resident status; or
- have a different LMIA-exempt or open-work-permit basis available.
Do not treat those as the same problem.
If you are outside Canada and no work permit has been issued
A negative LMIA means the employer does not have the positive LMIA that an LMIA-based work-permit application normally requires. The worker is not the applicant in the LMIA process the employer is. Where Service Canada refuses to process an LMIA application, ESDC states that “a letter will be sent to you with the reason why your application was not processed”. A refusal to process is a different outcome from a negative LMIA decision. A refusal to process means Service Canada does not assess the application at all, while a negative LMIA means the application was assessed and decided against the employer. The rest of this article is about a negative LMIA decision, which is the outcome you are dealing with when the LMIA came back negative.
The employer may review the refusal reasons and decide whether a new LMIA application is appropriate. A worker should not file an LMIA-based work-permit application pretending the refused LMIA is positive.
One timing point worth knowing if the employer does try again. ESDC states that positive decisions on LMIA applications received as of May 1, 2024 are valid for up to six months, so any fresh positive LMIA carries its own window in which the work-permit application has to be made.
If you already hold a valid employer-specific work permit
Start with the document IRCC actually issued. Check:
- the employer named on the permit;
- occupation and location conditions where applicable;
- the printed expiry date; and
- any subsequent IRCC letter or decision affecting the permit.
Continue to comply with the permit’s conditions. A later employer-side LMIA refusal does not give you permission to work for someone else, work after the permit expires, or ignore a separate IRCC decision.
On the current IRCC and ESDC sources reviewed, a negative decision on a separate or new LMIA application is not itself an IRCC decision changing an already-issued work permit. Continue to comply with the permit in force and any later IRCC decision or correspondence. ESDC’s revocation of a positive LMIA before related work permits are issued is a separate process.
If a pending work-permit application relied on the LMIA that was refused
A pending LMIA-based application needs a positive LMIA unless another valid work-permit basis applies. A later negative LMIA means the employer cannot provide the positive LMIA required to approve that application on the LMIA-required basis.
Review the pending application, the current permit, status history and any alternative LMIA-exempt or open-work-permit basis immediately. The negative LMIA does not become positive support merely because the work-permit application was filed first.
There is a narrow filing rule where a current work permit expires within 2 weeks and the employer has already applied for a new LMIA. IRCC currently allows the worker to submit the extension with proof of the valid job offer and proof that the LMIA request was made. Once the LMIA decision is available, IRCC says the worker must send the LMIA or CAQ proof within 90 days of the date IRCC received the work-permit application, or the application could be refused.
A timely work-permit extension or change application submitted before the old permit expires can give maintained status. While the application is pending and the worker remains in Canada, IRCC says the worker may continue working under the same conditions as the original permit. For an employer-specific permit, that means the same employer, job and work location. A later negative LMIA does not retroactively erase that maintained work authorization before IRCC decides the work-permit application, but it prevents approval on the LMIA-required basis unless another valid basis applies.
If your job ended or you want to change employers
An employer-specific permit does not authorize work for a new employer merely because the old job ended. IRCC’s position is that a person who applies to change employers keeps status while the application is processed but may only work for the employer named on the original work permit until a decision is made. They cannot start with the new employer unless the new permit is approved or they receive separate authorization.
Current IRCC guidance provides an interim process for certain workers in Canada who apply for a new employer-specific work permit. The worker first submits the new work-permit application, then uses the IRCC web form to request authorization to start the new job before the new permit is issued. The current guidance uses the priority code PPCHANGEWORK2020 and states that IRCC should respond in about 10 to 15 days, and it states plainly that the authorization email is not your work permit. Re-open the live IRCC page before relying on the code or the response target, because public-policy procedures can change.
Do not start the new job until you have the required authorization.
What the new employer has to produce
IRCC’s Help Centre sets out what a new employer must supply to support a change of employer. Where the job needs an LMIA, that is a new job offer letter, a new LMIA number and a new contract signed by you and the future employer, plus a Quebec Acceptance Certificate where the job is in Quebec. Where the job is LMIA-exempt, it is the offer of employment number the employer received when they submitted the offer of employment.
If your status has expired
Restoration is time-sensitive. IRCC states that it must receive your application to restore your status no more than 90 days after your status expired, together with the applicable restoration and work-permit application where you are eligible.
Restoration does not itself authorize work while the request is pending. IRCC’s wording is that normally you are not allowed to work until your status has been restored and your new work permit issued. Confirm the exact status history, the permit expiry and any work performed after expiry before making a plan.
Can you change to visitor status while the employer tries again?
A worker can apply to change to visitor status before the work permit expires. While the visitor application is pending, the person can remain in Canada under maintained temporary resident status, but IRCC says they must stop working when the original work permit expires. Visitor status is not work authorization.
Do not use visitor status as a substitute for work authorization.
Can a visitor apply for a work permit from inside Canada?
Most visitors cannot simply apply inside Canada because an employer later obtains an LMIA. IRCC maintains a current list of the people who may apply for a work permit from inside Canada, and it is a list of defined categories rather than a general option. The broad COVID-era visitor-to-work public policy was scheduled to expire on February 28, 2025, but IRCC ended it early on August 28, 2024. Applications submitted before August 28, 2024 continued to be processed under the policy. Check the live inside-Canada eligibility page before choosing the filing route.
Routes that may not require this LMIA
A refused LMIA does not answer whether the person qualifies under a different work-permit category. Some work permits are LMIA-exempt and some are open work permits. Eligibility has to be established under the actual exemption or program. It cannot be assumed simply because the LMIA route failed.
The same applies to timing. ESDC publishes live LMIA processing times by stream, and those are the figures to look at if the employer is deciding whether a second attempt fits inside your remaining status. No figure is published here, because they move.
If your permit, your status expiry and a refused LMIA are now pointing in three different directions, that is a file worth mapping with a licensed consultant before anything expires.
Frequently asked questions
Does a refused LMIA cancel the work permit already in my passport?
Do not answer this from the LMIA refusal alone. The LMIA and the work permit are separate decisions. Review the issued permit, its conditions and expiry, and any IRCC correspondence, to determine your current authority.
My extension relied on the LMIA that was refused. What now?
A negative LMIA means that application cannot be approved on the LMIA-required basis unless another valid basis applies. A timely extension application may still give maintained status and same-condition work authorization while IRCC is deciding it. Review the exact filing history, permit conditions and any alternative basis immediately.
Can I appeal my employer’s LMIA refusal?
The employer is the LMIA applicant. You do not become the LMIA applicant because your work-permit plan depends on it. The employer should review Service Canada’s refusal reasons and the employer-side options available to it. The current public ESDC pages reviewed for this article do not publish a general worker appeal route from a negative LMIA.
How soon can the employer apply again?
The pages reviewed for this article do not publish a general waiting period. A new application must meet the current program requirements and address the reason for the negative decision.
Can I stay as a visitor while the employer tries again?
You may apply to change to visitor status while eligible to do so. When the original work permit expires, IRCC says you must stop working while the visitor application is pending.
Can I work for a new employer while the new permit is pending?
Only after meeting the current IRCC conditions for interim authorization and receiving the required authorization. Filing a new application is not by itself permission to start the new job, and IRCC states that the authorization email is not a work permit.
I am in Canada as a visitor. Can I apply for a work permit inside Canada?
Only where you fall within IRCC’s current inside-Canada eligibility categories. The former broad visitor-to-work public policy was scheduled to expire on February 28, 2025, but IRCC ended it early on August 28, 2024.
The practical rule
Treat the LMIA refusal as a trigger to map your status and your work authorization immediately. The documents that matter are the LMIA decision, the current permit, any pending IRCC application and your exact status-expiry timeline. Do not let an employer-side refusal turn into unauthorized work or an avoidable status problem.
Official sources reviewed
- ESDC and Service Canada, Refusal to process a Labour Market Impact Assessment application (date modified July 10, 2026). canada.ca
- ESDC and Service Canada, Labour Market Impact Assessment validity period (date modified April 14, 2026). canada.ca
- ESDC and Service Canada, LMIA processing times (live tool, linked instead of publishing a figure). canada.ca
- IRCC, Change jobs or employers as a temporary worker (date modified November 20, 2025). canada.ca
- IRCC Help Centre, what a new employer must provide to support a change of employer. ircc.canada.ca
- IRCC, Extend or change the conditions on your work permit. canada.ca
- IRCC Help Centre, extending an expiring work permit while a new LMIA or CAQ is still pending, including the current 2-week filing window and 90-day follow-up rule. ircc.canada.ca
- IRCC Help Centre, maintained status after applying for a new work permit, including the rule to stop working at permit expiry when the pending application is for a visitor record or study permit. ircc.canada.ca
- IRCC, Restore your status as a worker (date modified January 9, 2026). canada.ca
- IRCC, Who can apply for a work permit from inside Canada (date modified August 5, 2026). canada.ca
- IRCC, Canada ends temporary public policy allowing visitors to apply for work permits from within the country (August 28, 2024). canada.ca
- IRCC, Apply for a visitor record to stay longer in Canada (date modified January 9, 2026). canada.ca
- IRCC, Check processing times (live tool). canada.ca
Official sources last checked: August 15, 2026.
This article is general information about Canadian immigration law and policy. It is not legal advice and it does not create a consultant and client relationship. Immigration rules change without notice. Confirm your own situation with a Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant or a lawyer before you act.
