On November 19, 2025, Canada updated its prevailing wage/median wage data. Employers seeking Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) and certain types of employer-specific work permits need to take the new prevailing wage data into consideration or risk refusals on applications.

Prevailing wage data update

Canada updates its national wage data annually. The data can be searched by occupation or location. The median wage column is the prevailing wage for LMIA or work permit purposes.

Employers seeking an LMIA must offer a base wage that meets or exceeds the prevailing wage for the position/National Occupational Classification (NOC) and the location of work. If the median wage is listed as "n/a" for a location, employers must refer to the provincial median wage for that NOC to determine the prevailing wage.

Employers also have to offer at least the prevailing wage for some types of LMIA-exempt work permits, such as intra-company transferee (ICT) work permits under the specialized knowledge category and for various provincial nominee streams.

Employer takeaways

Changes to the prevailing wage data can create additional complexity. Employers should seek legal advice from an experienced immigration lawyer when assessing how the changes may affect specific situations.

Some considerations for employers are:

  • If you have job listings posted for a potential LMIA application, check the listed wage to see if you need to revise it to meet a new, higher prevailing wage threshold.
  • If you filed an LMIA application prior to November 19 that is still in process, check the new prevailing wage level and assess whether you need to update or redo the job listings.
  • Employers who have temporary foreign workers (TFWs) working under LMIAs issued after January 1, 2024, are obligated to review and adjust such TFWs’ wages annually to ensure that they continue to pay at least the prevailing wage.This review should be done before year end.
  • Employers seeking renewals of intra-company transferee specialized knowledge work permits need to ensure that they are offering at least the prevailing wage before uploading wage data into the Employer Portal.
  • If you registered any jobs with the Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program (OINP) under the Employer Job Offer stream, and the new prevailing wage for the location/NOC exceeds the wage you uploaded to the OINP, you will need to withdraw the prior upload and prepare a new OINP job offer that meets the new prevailing wage.

For further information on this update, or for guidance on any immigration or work permit matter, please contact a member of the Gowling WLG Immigration team.