Canada does not have one list of companies that sponsor foreign workers, and no employer can sell you a sponsored
job. Sponsorship always starts the same way: a real Canadian company offers you a real job, and then that company proves to the Government of Canada that no Canadian citizen or permanent resident was available to fill it. This guide is the company side of that story. It shows you which sectors sponsor most often, which employers have a proven record of sponsoring, and how to check any employer’s history for yourself before you apply.
It is the companion to our general guide on sponsorship in Canada, which explains the process step by step. This post answers a different question: who actually does the sponsoring, and how do you find them?
How to Tell Whether a Company Really Sponsors Foreign Workers:
A company that sponsors foreign workers has to leave a paper trail, and that trail is public. There are two official places to check it. The first is the Government of Canada Job Bank, which has a dedicated page for Temporary Foreign Workers. It lists jobs from employers that have already obtained or applied for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). Job Bank also lets you filter for jobs open to international candidates: in Advanced search, under Intended applicants, choose “Canadians and international candidates”. If you do not hold a valid Canadian work permit, Job Bank itself warns you to apply only to jobs advertised by employers that are open to recruiting international candidates or temporary foreign workers, because other employers will not respond to your application.
The second check is stronger. Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) publishes quarterly lists of the employers that received positive LMIAs, by programme stream, occupation and business location, on the Open Government Portal. The latest edition, for the second quarter of 2026, was published on 30 October 2026. An employer on that list has sponsored before, which makes it more likely to sponsor again. Remember what the list is, though: it counts positions on positive LMIAs, not work permits, and it includes positions the employer later cancelled. A positive LMIA is a past approval, not a current opening. Always check the employer’s own careers page or a live Job Bank posting before you apply.
Canadian Companies with a Record of Sponsoring Foreign Workers:
The employers below appear on ESDC’s published positive-LMIA lists for the year from July 2025 to June 2026, with the number of approved positions shown. These are approved LMIA positions, not live vacancies, so treat them as evidence of a sponsoring habit, not as a job offer.
- Amazon Development Centre Canada ULC — 107 approved positions on 107 positive LMIAs. Amazon’s Canadian technology centres hire software developers and related roles, often through the fast Global Talent Stream.
- DeVry Greenhouses, Chilliwack, British Columbia — 610 approved positions, almost all for nursery and greenhouse labourers. Greenhouse work is one of the steadiest LMIA routes for workers without a degree.
- Jealous Fruits Ltd. — 1,085 approved positions. A British Columbia fruit grower and packer that hires large numbers of farm and harvesting workers through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
- Aliments Nortera Inc., Brossard, Quebec — 313 approved positions, mostly labourers in food and beverage processing. Food processing plants across Canada sponsor in similar numbers every year.
These four are only examples. The quarterly lists name thousands of employers, from small farms and restaurants to national chains, and the newest list is always the one to search. A company that sponsored last year is your best lead for this year.
Sectors Where Canadian Companies Sponsor Most Often:
Sponsorship follows labour shortages, so the same sectors appear on the LMIA lists year after year. Start your search in the sector that matches your own experience.
- Technology: Software developers, data specialists and engineers are hired by large employers such as Amazon, Microsoft, Google and Shopify in Canada. Many of these hires go through the Global Talent Stream, which is the fastest LMIA route: ESDC aims to decide the LMIA in 10 business days, and IRCC aims to process the work permit in about two weeks. These are service targets, not guarantees, and they apply to complete applications in listed occupations.
- Healthcare: Hospitals, clinics and long-term care homes sponsor nurses, care aides and medical technicians. Registered nurses are in shortage across Canada, but you must hold provincial registration before you can work, so start the licensing process early.
- Food processing and manufacturing: Meat and food processing plants, and manufacturers in Ontario and the Prairies, sponsor production workers, machine operators and skilled trades staff. Aliments Nortera is one example from the official lists.
- Agriculture: Farms and greenhouses are among the biggest LMIA users in the country. Foreign farm workers come through two official routes: the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, which is limited to citizens of Mexico and 11 Caribbean countries, and the Agricultural Stream, which is open to workers from any country. Our Farm Jobs in Canada 2026 guide explains both routes in full.
- Hospitality, retail and food service: Hotels, restaurants and large retail chains such as Walmart, Canadian Tire and Loblaws sponsor cooks, food service workers, cleaners and store staff, mostly through the low-wage LMIA stream. Note that ESDC refuses to process low-wage LMIAs in metropolitan areas where unemployment is 6% or higher, and that list is updated every quarter, so smaller cities and towns often offer better chances.
- Transport and logistics: Transport companies sponsor long-haul truck drivers, and warehouses and delivery firms sponsor drivers and logistics staff. You will need a valid commercial driving licence for the province where you will work.
- Construction and skilled trades: Electricians, plumbers, carpenters, welders and mechanics are sponsored through the LMIA route, and a recognised trade qualification with proven experience matters more than a degree.
- Aviation — a warning: Not every large Canadian employer sponsors. Air Canada, Canada’s largest airline, requires applicants to be already entitled to work in Canada and does not sponsor work permits for its airport and cabin crew roles. Always read the posting itself: if it says you must already be entitled to work in Canada, that employer will not sponsor you.
What Sponsoring Companies Look For:
A sponsoring employer is taking on paperwork, a CAD 1,000 LMIA fee and months of waiting, so it hires people who are ready to start. The strongest applicants have the right occupation for the role, proven experience in it, any licence or registration the job legally requires, and a simple, honest CV that matches the posting. English or French at the level the job needs matters, and so do ready documents: a valid passport, proof of your qualifications and work history, and police certificates where they are asked for. Remember that the employer must also pay at least the prevailing wage for the occupation and region, and offer working conditions comparable to those of Canadian workers in similar jobs.
Fees in 2026 — Who Pays What:
Official government fees are fixed and published by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). If anyone quotes you different fees, or asks you to pay an employer’s fee, walk away.
- LMIA fee: CAD 1,000 per position — paid by the employer, never by you. Canadian law does not let the employer pass this cost to the worker.
- Work permit processing fee: CAD 155 per person — paid by you when you apply.
- Open work permit holder fee: an extra CAD 100 — so an open permit costs CAD 255 before biometrics.
- Biometrics: CAD 85 per person — with a maximum of CAD 170 for an eligible family applying together.
- Employer compliance fee: CAD 230 — paid by the employer for LMIA-exempt offers under the International Mobility Program, never by you.
The Caregiver Exception in 2026:
Caregivers are the one group where the usual advice does not apply in 2026. The Home Care Worker Immigration Pilots, the dedicated permanent residence routes for home child care providers and home support workers, are closed to new applications. IRCC paused intake on 19 December 2025, the pilots did not reopen in 2026, and no reopening date has been announced. Applications already received are still being processed. The remaining route for most caregivers is an employer LMIA work permit, and even that is limited: IRCC generally does not issue a first caregiver work permit to someone outside Canada for a job outside Quebec. Do not trust any agent who promises a caregiver visa through a pilot that no longer accepts applications.
Browse Careers
How to Apply:
Work through the employer’s own route, in this order, and never pay anyone for a job offer or an LMIA.
- Step 1: Search Job Bank first. Use the Temporary Foreign Workers page on Job Bank, or Advanced search with the “Canadians and international candidates” filter, and search by your occupation or its five-digit NOC code.
- Step 2: Check the employer’s history. Look the employer up in ESDC’s quarterly positive-LMIA lists. An employer that has sponsored before is more likely to sponsor again.
- Step 3: Apply through the method in the posting. Use the employer’s own careers page or the application route given in the Job Bank posting, with a simple, honest CV. Never pay anyone to submit your application for you.
- Step 4: Let the employer do the LMIA. The employer advertises the job locally first, then applies to ESDC and pays the CAD 1,000 fee. A positive LMIA is valid for 6 months, so apply for your work permit inside that window.
- Step 5: Apply for your work permit. Apply online to IRCC with the LMIA number, your job offer, your passport and your supporting documents, and pay the official fees. Give biometrics at a Visa Application Centre when IRCC asks, and complete a medical examination from an IRCC panel physician if your situation requires one.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q1. Which Canadian companies sponsor foreign workers?
There is no fixed list, because sponsorship depends on the job, not the company name. The best evidence is ESDC’s quarterly lists of employers that received positive LMIAs: recent editions name employers from Amazon’s Canadian technology centres to greenhouse growers in British Columbia and food processors in Quebec. Search those lists for your occupation, then check whether the employer has a live opening.
Q2. How do I check whether a company has sponsored before?
Search ESDC’s positive-LMIA employer lists on the Open Government Portal — the latest edition, for the second quarter of 2026, was published on 30 October 2026. You can also search Job Bank’s Temporary Foreign Workers page, which lists jobs from employers that have obtained or applied for an LMIA.
Q3. Do I have to pay for sponsorship or for an LMIA?
No. The LMIA costs CAD 1,000 per position and is paid by your employer; Canadian law does not let the employer pass it to you. You pay only your own official fees: the CAD 155 work permit fee and CAD 85 for biometrics where required. Anyone asking you to pay for an LMIA or a job offer is running a scam.
Q4. Can a caregiver still come to Canada in 2026?
Not through the dedicated caregiver immigration pilots, which are closed to new applications and did not reopen in 2026. The remaining route is an employer LMIA work permit, and IRCC generally does not issue a first caregiver work permit to someone outside Canada for a job outside Quebec. Check the current rules on the official Government of Canada website before you plan around caregiving.
Q5. Does Air Canada sponsor foreign workers?
No. Air Canada requires applicants to be already entitled to work in Canada and does not sponsor work permits for its airport and cabin crew roles. This is a useful reminder to read every posting: some of Canada’s biggest employers do not sponsor at all.
Q6. How fast is the Global Talent Stream?
ESDC aims to process a Global Talent Stream LMIA in 10 business days, and IRCC aims to process the related work permit in about two weeks, for eligible complete applications in listed tech occupations. These are service targets, not guarantees, and biometrics or a medical examination can add time.
