Employment and Social Development Canada (“ESDC”) has made changes to the program requirements for low-wage positions and introduced temporary measures to support rural employers under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (“TFWP”). These changes came into effect on April 1, 2026.

ESDC has indicated that these measures are intended to target unemployed youth in Canada and to address critical labour shortages faced by rural communities due to low unemployment rates and difficulty attracting, recruiting and retaining workers.

A ‘Low-Wage’ position is a position where the Employer will pay less than the wage threshold provided for the province or territory of the job location.

Changes and Reminders for Low-Wage Positions

1) Target Youth in Recruitment

Pursuant to these changes, employers seeking to apply for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (“LMIA”) for low-wage positions must now demonstrate recruitment efforts to reach and encourage youth to apply for the position.

ESDC suggests this can include:

• Posting on Job Bank (youth section) and youth job boards;
• Collaboration with educational institutions;
• Participating in youth employment programs;
• Promote job vacancies through local community centres and non-profits; or
• Using platforms and social media that are popular with youth for outreach.

As a reminder for low-wage positions, the position must be advertised on Job Bank as well as at least two (2) additional recruitment methods that are consistent with targeting an audience that has the appropriate education, experience and skill level required for the occupation. Each of these additional advertising methods must target a different underrepresented group, such as vulnerable youth, newcomers to Canada, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities and asylum claimants with valid work permits.

With these requirements as well as the new requirement to target youth, an Employer must use a minimum of four (4) advertising methods to meet these requirements.

2) Increased Advertising Duration

Employers must now advertise low-wage positions for a minimum of 8 consecutive weeks within the 3 months prior to submitting the LMIA application. This is an increase from the previous minimum of 4 consecutive weeks.

For employers, this means that forecasting labour shortages and job vacancies for low-wage positions will require planning ahead by a minimum of 3-6 months

3) Job Bank Features

ESDC has also implemented new requirements when using Job Bank. If a Job Bank posting remains active after the LMIA is submitted, all advertising requirements, including the mandatory Job Match and Direct Apply features, must continue to be met. Service Canada will review all recruitment activities up until a decision is made on the LMIA application.

Temporary Measures for Rural Areas

Last year, ESDC reduced the low-wage cap from 30% to 10% on the proportion of temporary foreign workers that employers can hire in low-wage positions at a specific work location. ESDC has now announced that eligible employers in rural areas, specifically those outside of census metropolitan areas and in participating provinces and territories, may:

• retain their current proportion of low-wage positions filled by temporary foreign workers if it’s above the cap, and/or
• benefit from a 15% cap on the proportion of temporary foreign workers in low-wage positions.

Employer eligibility depends on participating province or territory requirements.

To benefit from these measures, employers must meet all TFWP requirements, including the requirement to demonstrate efforts to hire Canadians and permanent residents. These measures will be applied once an eligible employer submits a new LMIA during the effective period for their province or territory. LMIA applications submitted before the measures come into effect are not eligible. Additionally, low-wage positions under the permanent resident dual-intent stream are not included in these measures.

These measures are in effect from April 1, 2026 until March 31, 2027.

For more information on these temporary measures and participating provinces and territories, please visit Temporary measures under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program – Canada.ca.

If you have any questions regarding these changes, please reach out to a Mathews Dinsdale & Clark lawyer.