GTA Foreign Hiring Report — 2026
An analysis of federal Labour Market Impact Assessment data for the Greater Toronto Area, comparing the first quarter of 2026 against the same quarter in 2025.
Key figures
50%
decline in GTA positions on approved LMIAs, 2025Q1 to 2026Q1
1,333
GTA employers using the programme in 2026Q1, down from 2,700
81%
fall in Low Wage stream positions
76%
fall in Global Talent Stream positions
What the decline really means
When LMIA-approved positions in the GTA fall by half in a single year, it would be easy to conclude that employers simply need fewer workers. The data do not support that conclusion on their own. These figures measure approved positions—not vacancies, actual arrivals or the full extent of labour demand. The pattern is consistent with a deliberate tightening of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, particularly for low-wage hiring in large urban areas. What we are seeing is not only a softer hiring market, but a reshaping of which employers and occupations can realistically use the program.
Positions by municipality, 2025Q1 vs 2026Q1
Program stream mix, 2025Q1 vs 2026Q1
Policy context
On 26 September 2024, Employment and Social Development Canada introduced a refusal-to-process rule for low-wage Labour Market Impact Assessment applications in any Census Metropolitan Area with an unemployment rate of 6% or higher, updated quarterly using Statistics Canada Labour Force Survey data. The cap on the proportion of low-wage positions at a worksite was reduced from 20% to 10%, with construction and healthcare held at 20%, and certain caregiving positions exempted. Maximum employment duration for low-wage positions was reduced from two years to one.
Change by occupational category (%)
Technology occupations, 2025Q1 vs 2026Q1
Software engineering roles in Toronto rose 24% year over year. Over the same period, use of the Global Talent Stream — the expedited route designed for exactly these positions — fell 76%.
The Global Talent Stream contradiction
The clearest contradiction is in technology. Total technology occupations declined, yet software engineer and designer positions in Toronto increased by 24% while Global Talent Stream positions across the GTA fell by 76%. The data cannot tell us whether employers shifted to LMIA-exempt pathways, recruited domestically, reduced their expansion plans or decided that the process no longer suited their needs. What it does tell us is that demand for senior software engineering talent and use of the fast-track pathway are no longer moving together. That disconnect deserves a closer examination by both policymakers and employers.
Commentary
Healthcare shortages versus falling approvals
The healthcare result should be treated as a warning, not as evidence that shortages have eased. Approved health positions fell by 46%, including significant declines for general practitioners and nurse aides, even though certain healthcare sectors were exempted from the strictest low-wage restrictions. Licensing requirements, recruitment capacity, wages and the availability of other immigration pathways can all affect whether an employer uses an LMIA. A decline in approvals does not necessarily mean the underlying need has disappeared; it may mean that the immigration pathway and the labour shortage are no longer connecting effectively.
Methodology
- Source: Employment and Social Development Canada, Temporary Foreign Worker Program. Quarterly LMIA statistics 2025Q1–2026Q1, published 21 July 2026, and the Positive LMIA Employers List. Licensed under the Open Government Licence – Canada.
- This data counts positions on approved LMIAs, not workers who arrived in Canada. ESDC states that not every approved position results in a work permit.
- Comparisons are same-quarter year-over-year. Quarter-to-quarter comparison is unreliable because agricultural hiring is heavily seasonal.
- Municipal figures are derived from employer business addresses and may differ from official census-subdivision figures, which assign positions by location of employment. The two are not directly comparable.
- Communities were consolidated into their municipalities: North York, Etobicoke and Scarborough into Toronto; Concord and Woodbridge into Vaughan; Bolton into Caledon. Thornhill was allocated between Markham and Vaughan by postal district.
- Occupational categories follow the National Occupational Classification 2021 broad categories. This is grouped by occupation, not industry; GTA-level industry data is not published.
- No employer names are published in this report.
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