LMIA for Trucking Companies
AZ drivers are still being hired from abroad — by carriers who run the process properly. The compliance bar in this sector is higher than most, and it is where files fail.
Where this sector actually stands
Transport has weathered the tightening of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program better than most sectors: trades, transport and equipment occupations fell 38% across the GTA year over year — a real decline, but roughly half the damage done to sales and service. Carriers with genuine driver shortages are still getting positions approved.
The difference between approved and refused in trucking is rarely the shortage — it is the file. This sector draws more compliance attention than almost any other: driver misclassification, wage records, and safety history all get looked at. A carrier whose drivers invoice through their own corporations has a structural problem before the application starts, because the program hires employees, not contractors.
Wages decide the stream. A long-haul wage at or above Ontario's high-wage threshold is assessed under the High Wage stream; below it, the position lands in the Low Wage stream with its caps and restrictions. Where your actual wage sits — not where a wage survey says it could sit — is the first thing to establish.
Change in trades, transport and equipment operator positions on approved LMIAs across the GTA, 2025Q1 to 2026Q1 — around half the decline seen in sales and service.
From our GTA Foreign Hiring ReportWhat still works
High Wage stream for properly paid drivers
Long-haul AZ wages frequently clear the high-wage threshold, which keeps the position out of the Low Wage stream's caps and refusal-to-process rules. The wage must be genuine, on payroll, and consistent with what your current drivers earn.
A provincial nomination path for retention
Ontario's employer-linked nomination streams have included transport truck drivers, which means a well-structured hire can carry a credible permanent residence path. Drivers stay with carriers who sponsored their future — it is the strongest retention tool in the sector.
Multi-position recruitment, structured once
Carriers rarely need one driver. A recruitment plan covering several positions across a season — advertising, wage evidence and onboarding built once, reused per position — is materially cheaper per hire than filing ad hoc.
Drivers already in Canada
Licensed drivers on open permits — PGWP holders with the right licence class, spouses with open work permits — can be hired immediately with no LMIA. Fewer exist than carriers hope, but the check costs nothing.
Find out in three minutes whether your position is workable
Eight questions — role, wage, location, candidate. The LMIA Readiness Audit shows what your application would involve and what is probably missing, before you spend anything. A licensed consultant reviews every submission.
Start the LMIA Readiness AuditWhere files in this sector go wrong
Incorporated drivers
If your drivers invoice as corporations, the position you are trying to fill is not an employment relationship the program recognises — and the practice itself attracts enforcement well beyond immigration. Foreign drivers must be employees on payroll, with deductions, from day one.
Licensing left until arrival
An LMIA and work permit do not put a driver behind the wheel — an Ontario AZ licence does, and getting one involves mandatory training and testing that takes real time. The licensing plan belongs in the hiring timeline from the start, not discovered at the terminal.
Wage evidence that contradicts the application
Inspectors compare the LMIA wage against payroll for the foreign driver and against what comparable Canadian drivers earn. Mileage-rate arithmetic that lands below the committed hourly wage is a finding, not a technicality.
Genuineness questions the fleet cannot answer
Ten positions requested by a carrier with three trucks invites exactly the scrutiny you would expect. The business case — fleet size, contracts, current driver count — has to support the ask.
Employer questions
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