Global Talent Stream Canada (GTS): LMIA, Work Permit & Visa in 2026.

The Global Talent Stream (GTS) is Canada’s fastest path for employers to hire highly skilled foreign workers when there is insufficient domestic labour supply. Launched in 2017 as part of the Global Skills Strategy, the program pairs an expedited Labour Market Impact Assessment with a two-week work permit target under IRCC’s dedicated service channel. This page explains the GTS work permit process, the two categories, the Labour Market Benefits Plan, eligibility criteria, program requirements and 2026 processing delays — everything a Canadian employer needs to hire foreign talent quickly.

What is the Global Talent Stream?

The Global Talent Stream is an expedited stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program’s Labour Market Impact Assessment process, designed for innovative Canadian firms hiring specialized temporary foreign workers. Run jointly by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) under the Global Skills Strategy, it moves both the LMIA and the work permit through a dedicated service channel. Unlike the traditional LMIA, GTS waives the four-week advertising requirement on the Canadian labour market. Employers apply directly to ESDC, and once a positive LMIA is issued, the foreign worker applies to IRCC for a work permit tied to the same job.

Global Talent Stream Processing Time and LMIA Service Standards in 2026

Service Canada’s published service standard for the Global Talent Stream LMIA is 10 business days, met 80% of the time. In early 2026, average processing is running closer to 11-12 business days due to the lower temporary foreign worker admissions cap, so some processing delays are realistic to plan for. Once ESDC is satisfied with the LMIA application and supporting documents, it issues a positive decision letter that the foreign worker uses to support the work permit application. Under the Global Skills Strategy, IRCC targets 10 business days for the work permit itself — also met 80% of the time — and the same expedited timeline extends to the worker’s spouse and dependent children.

Global Talent Stream Categories

There are only 2 categories within GTS:

Category A: designed for an innovative Canadian company that can demonstrate both the willingness and capability to grow or scale up. The business must obtain a referral support letter from a designated referral partner — typically an investment attraction agency, innovation centres, business accelerators or provincial innovation agency recognized by ESDC. Category A suits innovative firms in STEM and research-based industries, start-ups, and companies with niche or proprietary products or services, and is used to bring in highly skilled foreign workers with advanced knowledge for specialized positions requested by the business.

Category B: open to any Canadian company hiring foreign workers in occupations on the Global Talent Occupations List, which ESDC reviews and updates periodically based on insufficient domestic labour supply. Typical roles on the talent stream list include software engineers, computer engineers, data administrators, information systems analysts, electronics engineering technologists, web designers, and technical director, creative director and project manager roles in the digital media animation and visual effects and video game animation industries — plus positions that require digital media design skills. Category B does not require a designated referral partner. Once the employer identifies the foreign worker and collects the supporting documents, they can apply directly for the GTS LMIA.

Global Talent Stream Program Requirements

The program requirements for GTS are mostly similar except for several distinct features.

Once the foreign worker is identified, the GTS LMIA application can be prepared within a few business days and submitted for an LMIA online. ESDC aims to meet the 10-business-day service standard 80% of the time regardless of whether the employer has had a previously approved GTS — prior approvals may speed up the verification of business legitimacy but do not change the published standard.

GTS Foreign Worker Wage Requirements

The wage requirement for the Global Talent Stream is set so that highly skilled foreign workers earn at or above the prevailing wage paid to Canadian workers in the same job at the same location — the program is never a route to underpay skilled workers:

For Category A, the first 2 positions must be paid the higher of CAD $80,000 annual salary or the prevailing wage for the job title and work location. For each subsequent position beyond the first two, the annual salary must be the higher of CAD $150,000 or the prevailing wage, which reflects the fact that ESDC treats additional Category A hires as increasingly senior or strategic.

For Category B, the annual salary must sit within the prevailing wage range for the occupation in the work location. Some occupations on the Global Talent Occupations List carry a floor — for example, pipeline software development and senior digital media design skills roles may specify the higher of CAD $80,000 or the prevailing wage, depending on the NOC 2021 classification.

To check the prevailing wage per occupation depending on the location, you can check this information on Canada’s official Job Bank website.

You must also note that the foreign worker must be offered competitive wages compared to Canadian citizens and permanent residents currently working in the same occupation at the same location, holding similar skills and years of experience.

For example: if you have 10 developers working in the same location and their annual salaries range from $100,000 to $150,000, then the foreign worker must be offered a wage that fits within those ranges, even if it is above the prevailing wage.

Learn about Canada’s High-Wage LMIA Program.

GTS and Company Benefits – Requirements 

The Global Talent Stream distinguishes between mandatory benefits that ESDC requires every GTS employer to fund — like emergency medical coverage during any period the foreign worker is not covered by provincial health insurance — and complementary benefits outlined in the Labour Market Benefits Plan that support mandatory goals around job creation, training investments and transferring knowledge. Company health and extended benefits policy varies: some employers require a three-month probation before enrolling the employee, others provide coverage from the first day of employment.

Either way, it is important to note that the Canadian employer must obtain and pay for private health insurance that covers emergency medical care for any period during which the foreign worker isn’t covered by the applicable provincial/territorial health insurance system.

The coverage must correspond with the foreign worker’s first day of work in Canada, and the costs cannot be recovered from the foreign worker. ESDC will accept a basic plan as long as it ensures that foreign workers won’t have to pay for medical care if they become sick or have an accident while working in Canada.

From this perspective, it makes sense to enrol the foreign worker in the company’s benefits policy on the first day of their employment.

Not sure if Global Talent Stream is right for you? Learn about Intra-Company Transfer Canada.

What is a Labour Market Benefits Plan?

The Labour Market Benefits Plan (LMBP) is the mandatory social development piece of every GTS LMIA. It requires the employer to commit to specific labour market benefits — concrete activities that produce lasting outcomes for the Canadian labour market as a result of hiring the foreign worker. Every LMBP has one mandatory activity plus at least two complementary benefits, selected from job creation, skills transfer, training investments, transferring knowledge, and enhanced company performance.

Under Category A, the mandatory activity is a job creation benefit for Canadian citizens and permanent residents.

Under Category B, the mandatory activity is skills and training investment for Canadian citizens and permanent residents.

 

Are you recruiting foreign tech talent? Learn all about our Canadian Tech Immigration Solutions and Tech Visas.

How Employment and Social Development Canada Reviews the LMBP

Employment and Social Development Canada (part of the broader Employment and Social Development ministry) assesses the LMBP as part of the LMIA decision. The department wants to see a plan that is realistic, quantified, and tied to the specific job duties and work location of the position, with year-by-year targets employers can actually hit. A strong LMBP names the activity, assigns a Canadian worker beneficiary where applicable, and pairs the benefit with a tracking method so ESDC can verify completion at the progress review.

Labour Market Benefits Plan Progress Review

A progress review is a mandatory process that ESDC conducts to check the progress of LMBP activities. It gets conducted annually, and it allows employers to report on the progress of creating lasting, positive impacts on the Canadian labour market.

As such, it is highly important to maintain all records associated with the LMBP commitments in a separate and organized journal so that the required information can be easily accessible during the progress review.

The journal can redact the names and contact information of Canadian employees for privacy and include the following information:

• Initials of the Canadian employee
• Their status (citizen or permanent resident)
• Name of the activity
• Date of the activity
• Result of the activity
  • In the case of hiring, how many individuals were hired?
    • Keep a record of their signed offer letter + copy of their Canadian status document or SIN.
  • In the case of training, how many people attended, and what was the event?
    • Keep a record of receipts associated with the training + sign-up sheet of attendees.

If some commitments become very difficult to meet, the ESDC officer who approved the initial GTS application must be contacted to re-negotiate the LMBP.

The success of progress reviews will dictate the business’ continued eligibility for any subsequent GTS applications.

If LMBP commitments have not been met, it may result in penalties or affect future participation in the GTS program.

As such, it is very important that the LMBP is maintained and completed for the committed period, even if the foreign national becomes a permanent resident of Canada.

GTS Employer Compliance

Employer compliance is audited by ESDC and can affect every future GTS application your company submits. As an employer of foreign workers, you must ensure that:

• You comply with all federal, provincial, and/or territorial laws regulating employment and recruiting.
• The foreign worker obtains a signed offer letter on the first day of work (or earlier) that clearly outlines all relevant details associated with their employment. Check here to learn what information must be presented on the offer letters.
• All relevant records concerning the GTS application are kept for 6 years.
  • This includes any recruitment records conducted for the role (if there were any), communication threads with the applicant, communication records with any third party involved in this process, the submitted application, expenses, communication threads with the ESDC officer, a copy of the LMBP and the final decision letter.
• You commit to executing the activities that were agreed on in the LMBP.
• You inform ESDC of any changes to the foreign worker’s employment conditions.
• You provide a safe working environment to the foreign worker that is free of abuse and has proper safety measures depending on the industry standards.
• You maintain the same employment conditions in the GTS application and the signed offer letter.
• The company remains engaged in the same business for the duration of the foreign worker’s work permit.
  • For example, if the business is acquired or rebranded, the foreign worker may need a new GTS to accurately reflect employment records.

Tips for Succeeding in Global Talent Stream 

GTS is a very popular program for hiring foreign workers, and many Canadian companies regularly use this program to expand their international recruitment capabilities and bolster their staff.

GTS can also be used by Canadian companies to retain current employees who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents.

Below are some crucial tips on how to succeed in GTS based on our experience:

Benefits of the GTS Program for Employers and Employees

The primary benefit of the Global Talent Stream is that it gives Canadian businesses — especially innovative firms in tech, life sciences and advanced manufacturing — a practical route to hire foreign talent quickly when the domestic labour market is tight. Employers use GTS to fill positions in labour shortage occupations and retain current foreign employees already integrated into the team.

Canadian employers can benefit from the GTS program in the following ways:

• Expedited processing time of 2~3 weeks to obtain a GTS approval letter that will be used to support foreign workers’ work permit applications.
  • This is comparable to the traditional Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) application that takes approximately 4 months to finalize overall.
• Target the highest-skilled talent from all over the world and bring them to Canada to work for your business.
• No limit on how many foreign workers you can bring from any country in the world.
• The foreign worker’s work permit will be issued specifically to your company and location for 3 years maximum – they won’t be eligible to work elsewhere.
• The initial duration of the Canada work permit is up to 3 years, with possibilities of extension or transition of the foreign worker into permanent resident status in Canada.
  • This makes GTS effectively a 2 year work permit Canada option at minimum, and often a full 3-year Canada work visa.
  • After 12 months of continuous work, many foreign workers qualify for Canadian permanent residence through Express Entry, the Canadian Experience Class, or a PNP pathway.
• Retain existing talent and save precious resources from hiring and training a brand new person.

The GTS program benefits the employees by allowing them to live and work in Canada and bringing their spouses and children with them.

Global Talent Stream Jobs List vs Other Canada Work Permit Routes

Where does the Global Talent Stream jobs list fit among Canadian work permit options?

At a high level:

• Global Talent Stream visa pathway — fastest LMIA for tech and specialized talent; 10 business days; employer-specific.
• High-Wage LMIA — standard route for roles above the provincial median wage; 60 business days; transition plan required.
• Low-Wage LMIA — below-median roles; 46 business days; capped by region and subject to workforce percentage limits.
• C11 Entrepreneur Work Permit — LMIA-exempt route for owner-operators with 51%+ ownership.
• Intra-Company Transfer — LMIA-exempt for executives, senior managers, and specialized knowledge workers.

For most Canadian tech employers hiring outside their own group structure, Global Talent Stream Canada is the fastest, most defensible Canada work permit visa route in 2026. Contact our team if you want us to map a specific role against the right stream.

Frequently Asked Questions about Canada’s Global Talent Stream Program

Below, you will find answers to the most commonly asked questions about the GTS program.

How many categories of GTS are out there?

There are only 2 categories under GTS:

1. Category A targeting specialized talent to work for an innovative business in Canada.
2. Category B targeting specific occupations to work for any business in Canada.

Is there a limit to the GTS program?

There is no limit to the GTS program – Canadian employers are free to bring as many foreign workers as they need without any limitations on the citizenship of the foreign workers.

However, it is worth mentioning that Category A has a standard limit of 2 candidates per year. In the event the business will require more, then the requirement for additional candidates mandates that:

1. The designated referral partner confirms to ESDC that the employer continues to meet eligibility criteria for Category A and has provided its assessment of the additional unique and specialized position being requested.
2. The annual wage of the foreign worker must be at least $150,000 or meet the prevailing wage bracket, whichever is higher.

What are the requirements for employers to participate in the GTS?

The employer must be a Canadian-registered business providing a good or service to the general public. The business must not be on the list of ineligible employers and must be in good financial standing to pay the foreign worker’s salary, honour the job offer, and provide a safe workplace free of abuse with appropriate workplace safety measures for the industry. For Category A, the employer must be an innovative Canadian company with a focus on innovation and the capability to grow or scale up, backed by a designated referral partner.

What is the GTS application process?

First and foremost, the Canadian employer must meet the employer requirements and identify a foreign worker that meets the job requirements.

Once completed, the GTS application can be prepared which consists of:

1. On-line GTS application form
2. Supporting documents from the Canadian company such as CRA-issued T2 Schedule 100 and 125, and the most recent PD7A
3. Labour Market Benefits Plan – activities and commitments. Alternatively, you can discuss these commitments with the ESDC officer during the interview call

The government filing fee of $1,000 per position.

What is the GTS processing time?

GTS applications get processed within approximately 3 weeks for companies that didn’t have a recently approved GTS.

For companies that do, the processing time will be approximately 2 weeks.

How does GTS expedite the process for foreign workers?

Standard LMIA streams require the Canadian employer to advertise the role on the Canadian labour market for four weeks and then wait 46 business days (Low-Wage) to 60 business days (High-Wage) for ESDC to decide — around 4 to 6 months end to end.

The Global Talent Stream compresses this into a 10-business-day LMIA service standard plus a 10-business-day work permit under the Global Skills Strategy, and it waives the advertising requirement. For innovative Canadian companies hiring in occupations with insufficient domestic labour supply, LMIA Global Talent Stream is the fastest LMIA Canada route to bring in skilled workers.

What types of positions are eligible for the Global Talent Stream?

In order to qualify for Category A of GTS, the position needs to be highly specialized and unique.

To qualify for Category B of GTS, the position needs to fall within one of the accepted occupations mentioned here.

What are the requirements for foreign workers to be eligible for the GTS?

The general requirements for foreign workers are:

• Be admissible to Canada, meaning they are not in violation of any inadmissibility factors as specified by the Canadian immigration law
• Have industry-relevant education or specialized licenses
• Have relevant and matching previous experience
• Show initial settlement funds to cover incidental expenses in Canada until they are placed on the Canadian payroll and start earning Canadian salary
• Fluency in English or French

Is GTS used for temporary or permanent positions?

GTS was initially created to provide temporary relief to Canadian employers that are facing challenges in hiring and retaining highly skilled workers.

The work permit under GTS can be requested for 3 years with a possibility of renewal by way of submitting another GTS to support another 3-year work permit.

However, after 1 year of employment, the foreign worker could be eligible for permanent residence, hence GTS can be used as a solution for a permanent position.

What happens if the foreign worker doesn’t want to proceed with GTS?

That depends on how far you are in the GTS application process:

• Scenario 1: GTS application was not submitted yet and can be abandoned.
• Scenario 2: GTS application was submitted but not issued a final decision letter – you must contact ESDC and request that the application is withdrawn.
• Scenario 3: GTS application was approved, and a positive decision letter was issued – you must contact ESDC to confirm the changes and ask to re-use the same GTS approval letter on another foreign worker.

A positive GTS decision letter will be valid for 18 months, leaving plenty of time to find a substitute in the event the initial candidate doesn’t want to proceed.

Can a GTS application be refused?

While we generally don’t see GTS applications refused, the following factors could be a reason behind a GTS application refusal:

1. The offered position is not on the list of eligible occupations
2. The offered position doesn’t align with the needs of the business
3. The offered position is not specialized enough or the company is not focused on innovation (for Category A)
4. Lack of supporting documents to prove business legitimacy
5. An incomplete application that contains false information
6. The employer had previous compliance issues and is on the list of ineligible employers
7. A weak LMBP failing to demonstrate benefits to the Canadian labour market
8. The company’s inability to support the wages of the foreign worker
9. Non-compliance at the 12-month progress review

Can I let go of the foreign worker that we brought under GTS?

Yes, you can – in the event the foreign worker is failing to meet the responsibilities and duties associated with their job, you can let them go following internal proceedings and ensuring they meet the employment standards of the region or province.

As an employer, you are not responsible to maintain the employment of the foreign worker for the entire duration.

Can the foreign worker work anywhere else?

No. The foreign worker receives an employer and occupation-specific work permit that authorizes employment only with the same company and work location named in the GTS. Some other Canadian work routes — such as certain International Mobility Program categories — allow work permit exemptions or open permits, but GTS is not one of them.

About the Author

Feruza Djamalova is a Senior Immigration Lawyer at Sobirovs Law Firm, where she leads the firm’s Global Talent Stream, LMIA and employer compliance practice. A licensed member of the Law Society of Ontario, Feruza has represented Canadian employers and foreign workers across technology, engineering, life sciences and professional services — guiding innovative firms through the full lifecycle of a GTS application, from Labour Market Benefits Plan design to the ESDC interview and the follow-on work permit.

Her work focuses on helping Canadian companies hire highly skilled foreign talent quickly and defensibly under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and the Global Skills Strategy. Clients rely on her for the judgment calls that make or break a file: whether a role is genuinely unique and specialized under Category A, how to quantify LMBP commitments so they survive the 12-month progress review, and how to keep employer compliance clean across multi-year work permit renewals.

Sobirovs Law Firm is recognized by Chambers & Partners and The Legal 500 as a leading Canadian business immigration practice, serving clients on six continents in 13+ languages.

Contact Feruza and the Sobirovs team: wecare@sobirovs.com · +1 416 895 3026 · sobirovs.com.

Updated: April 17, 2026.