There has been a lot of praise for the Canadian government’s decision to eliminate Express Entry points for LMIA-backed job offers. However, as a Canadian corporate immigration lawyer who navigates Express Entry daily, I strongly disagree with this move—depending on how it is implemented. A policy designed to punish “bad actors” risks unfairly penalizing senior foreign workers who hold critical positions in the Canadian labour market.
The Value of Arranged Employment Points in Express Entry
Arranged employment points have been one of the few mechanisms in the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) to balance a scoring system that heavily favours younger candidates under 30-35 years old. These points—50 or 200, depending on the job—have been vital for many of my clients in senior or executive roles, most of whom are over 45 years old and lose out on up to 110 CRS points due to their age. For many, these points are what make permanent residence possible.
Eliminating these points without careful consideration would disproportionately harm older workers in senior roles—roles that are essential to Canadian businesses. In my experience, almost every executive I’ve helped is over 45 and relied on arranged employment points to bridge the gap caused by the CRS’s age bias.
Fraud Exists, But Most LMIA-Based Offers Are Legitimate
While there’s no denying that LMIA fraud exists and that unscrupulous actors exploit this system, this is not representative of most cases. In corporate immigration, we see genuine employers with legitimate labour needs relying on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). These employers go through the rigorous LMIA process only when they cannot find qualified candidates in Canada, investing significant resources in bringing talent from abroad. Penalizing everyone because of a few bad actors is a misguided and shortsighted approach (our immigration minister's favourite approach this year).
Implementation Matters
How the government implements these changes will make all the difference. Under the current system, Express Entry candidates can receive arranged employment points if they:
Have a recently approved LMIA (even without holding a work permit yet or working for the employer making the job offer).
Hold an LMIA-based work permit (regardless of when the LMIA was issued).
Hold an LMIA-exempt closed work permit and have worked for the employer full-time for at least one year.
The last group (those with LMIA-exempt work permits) is not the subject of public debate around fake job offers and immigration fraud because, let’s face it, the countries where this fraud is most prevalent typically lack LMIA-exempt options, such as free trade agreements with Canada or French-speaking individuals.
A Balanced Solution
I cannot see how the government could justify awarding arranged employment points to those with a closed work permit that is LMIA-exempt (after working for the employer for a year) while denying the same points to those who also hold a closed work permit, have worked for the employer, but obtained the work permit through an LMIA.
Instead of eliminating arranged employment points entirely, the government could refine the criteria. For example, they could:
Restrict arranged employment points to candidates who have worked full-time for at least one year (or the equivalent in part-time) for the employer making the offer, regardless of whether their CLOSED work permit is LMIA-supported or LMIA-exempt.
This would address the issue of fake job offers while ensuring that legitimate candidates—particularly those in senior roles—are not unfairly disadvantaged. Importantly, LMIA-supported work permits undergo much stricter scrutiny than LMIA-exempt ones, so creating a system that favors the latter would be counterproductive.
This is just one of several worrying changes announced this week. There’s nothing worse than a government desperately clinging to power by catering to the lowest common denominator when crafting immigration policy. But what else is new? This has been the prevailing trend in Canadian immigration policy throughout 2024.
Happy to hear your thoughts here or contacting me at acarvajal@carvajal.ca
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