It limits how much of your workforce can be low-wage temporary foreign workers, and it was halved in 2024.
The rule
The proportion of low-wage temporary foreign workers at a work location is capped at 10%. Before September 2024 it was 20%, and higher in some sectors.
How it is calculated
Per work location, not per company. A ten-location operator does not get one combined allowance — each site is assessed on its own headcount.
For a small site the arithmetic is unforgiving. Ten employees means one position. Five employees means the cap is already a problem.
What else changed alongside it
Low-wage work permits were shortened from two years to one. And low-wage LMIA applications stopped being processed in CMAs with unemployment at 6% or above.
The three changes compound. A cap that halves matters more when permits also shorten and many cities are closed entirely.
Who is exempt from the cap
Certain sectors — primary agriculture, food processing, construction and healthcare — received relief from parts of the 2024 restrictions. Food service did not.
What the cap does not apply to
LMIA exemptions. The cap belongs to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, so routes under the International Mobility Program sit outside it.
Francophone Mobility has no workforce cap. An employer already at 10% under the TFW program can still hire a French-speaking worker for a position outside Quebec under C16.
That distinction is worth checking before concluding you are full.
FrancoBridge publishes to French-speaking candidates across six markets.
Rules change. Verify current caps on canada.ca. This is not immigration advice.