The fee pays for an assessment, not an outcome. Understanding that explains both the price and the frustration.
What you are buying
An LMIA is a formal opinion from Employment and Social Development Canada on whether hiring a foreign worker will have a positive, neutral or negative effect on the Canadian labour market.
To reach that opinion, ESDC reviews the wage against local rates, the recruitment effort you made, your compliance history, and the effect on Canadian workers already employed.
That review is what $1,000 per position buys.
What it does not buy
A work permit. A positive LMIA lets your candidate apply — the application is separate and can still be refused.
A refund. The fee is non-refundable, including on refusal. You pay for the assessment, not the result.
Speed. The fee does not accelerate anything.
Why the exempt route costs less
The $230 compliance fee funds a different system. IRCC is not assessing your labour market impact, because an exemption means that assessment was judged unnecessary. The fee supports the compliance regime that verifies employers deliver what they promised.
Less assessment, lower fee. It is not a discount on the same service.
Where the money actually goes for most employers
Neither fee, in practice. The larger cost is the advertising period, the documentation, and the months during which the position stays empty.
FrancoBridge handles the part neither fee covers: finding French-speaking candidates across six markets.
Fees change. Verify on canada.ca. This is not immigration advice.