Canada Gives TFWP Applicants More Breathing Room: Grace Period for LMIA Proof Extended to 90 Days

Canada has just made life a little easier for foreign workers caught in the LMIA waiting game. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has extended the “concurrent processing” grace period for Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) applicants from 60 days to 90 days, giving applicants an extra month to submit proof of a positive or neutral Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) after they’ve already filed their work permit application.

The change took effect on August 21, 2026, and was introduced through an update to IRCC’s internal guidance for officers processing LMIA-based work permit applications.

Why This Matters

Normally, a foreign national applying for a TFWP work permit needs their employer’s completed LMIA in hand before they can even submit their application. But LMIA processing can take months, and that delay used to leave many workers in a tough spot — watching their existing work permit edge closer to expiry while their employer’s LMIA application sat in a processing queue.

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That’s where concurrent processing comes in. It allows eligible applicants to file their work permit application before the LMIA decision comes through, buying them time and helping preserve their maintained status (sometimes still called “implied status”) in Canada. Under maintained status, a worker can continue working under their existing permit conditions while a decision is pending, as long as they stay in Canada.

The catch, though, was the clock: applicants only had 60 days after submitting their work permit application to go back and add proof that their employer’s LMIA came through with a positive or neutral outcome. Miss that window, and the application could be refused — potentially putting the applicant’s ability to legally work in Canada at risk. With LMIA processing times fluctuating, that 60-day cushion wasn’t always enough. The new 90-day window gives applicants a better shot at getting the paperwork sorted before time runs out.

Who Qualifies for Concurrent Processing

Not every applicant is eligible for this pathway. To qualify, all of the following need to apply:

• The applicant’s current work permit is set to expire within two weeks or less.
• The employer has already submitted a complete LMIA application.
• A decision on that LMIA application hasn’t been made yet.
• The LMIA application was filed early enough that a decision could realistically have come through in time.

If all four boxes are checked, the applicant can submit their TFWP work permit application while the LMIA is still pending. The visa officer will then pause their review for up to 90 days, giving the applicant the chance to submit the completed LMIA once it’s approved. Once that window closes — or once the proof comes in, whichever happens first — the officer resumes processing and makes a final decision.

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The Bigger Picture

Without this safety valve, workers could end up in limbo through no fault of their own: authorized to work one day, and facing a lapse in status the next, simply because government processing didn’t move fast enough. In the worst-case scenario, an employer might even receive a positive LMIA naming the worker as the intended hire — only for it to be useless because the worker had already lost their authorization to work, been forced to stop working, or even had to leave Canada.

By stretching the buffer to 90 days, IRCC is giving both workers and employers more realistic timelines to work with, reducing the odds that a slow-moving LMIA application derails someone’s ability to keep working legally in Canada.

What This Means for You

If you’re a temporary foreign worker in Canada relying on an employer’s LMIA application, or an employer sponsoring someone through the TFWP, this extension is worth keeping in mind when planning your timelines. It doesn’t remove the pressure of the process entirely, but it does add a meaningful cushion for cases where LMIA processing takes longer than expected.

As always, immigration rules and processing timelines can shift, so anyone navigating a TFWP application should keep a close eye on their permit’s expiry date and stay in touch with their employer about the status of the LMIA application.

Source: CIC News

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