Maple News reports that Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) has released its April 2026 processing times for Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs). The update, published May 15, 2026, shows movement across nearly all Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) streams.
While several streams saw faster processing, the permanent resident (PR) stream recorded the sharpest decline, dropping by more than three months. In contrast, the low-wage stream lengthened by about 10 days.
Here is the April 2026 vs February 2026 comparison across streams: Global Talent Stream fell from 12 days to 8 days (-4 days); Agricultural Stream rose from 15 to 21 days (+6 days); Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program remained at 10 days; High-Wage Stream moved from 60 to 64 days (+4 days); Low-Wage Stream increased from 48 to 58 days (+10 days); Permanent Resident Stream dropped from 244 to 140 days (-104 days).
Even with the notable improvement in the PR stream, it remains the longest LMIA processing time among all TFWP streams. The larger jump in the low-wage category underscores ongoing backlogs for employers hiring workers at wages below provincial or territorial thresholds. Conversely, the Global Talent Stream is again processing within ESDC’s 10-day service standard, signaling renewed efficiency for certain high-demand roles.
The Agricultural Stream’s time to process rose by nearly a week, extending wait times for on-farm employers, while the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program held steady at about 10 days. For employers and applicants, the new data suggests some relief in several streams, but persistent delays in the PR stream and low-wage category may influence hiring and migration planning.