Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) released its August 2026 Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) processing times on September 10.
The takeaway for employers like yourself? The latest figures show longer waits across nearly every stream of Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).
The biggest increase came in the permanent resident stream, where average processing times jumped by 70 days in a single month. The Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) was the only exception, with wait times falling by two days.
ESDC updates its processing times monthly. The figures below represent the average number of business days needed to assess an LMIA application.
LMIA wait times: July vs. August 2026
LMIA processing times can vary based on the application type, whether the application is complete, and how many files are already waiting to be reviewed.
It’s also important to remember that the published processing times don’t include the advertising period employers must complete before submitting an LMIA application. Depending on the stream, those recruitment requirements can last anywhere from 14 days to eight weeks.
Here’s how the average processing times changed between July and August:
| TFWP stream/program | August 2026 | July 2026 | Change |
| Global Talent Stream | 10 days | 10 days | — |
| Agricultural stream | 25 days | 23 days | +2 days |
| Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program | 6 days | 8 days | -2 days |
| High-wage stream | 90 days | 88 days | +2 days |
| Low-wage stream | 82 days | 73 days | +9 days |
| Permanent resident stream | 156 days | 86 days | +70 days |
