LMIA number format checker.

Two numbers that get confused

A Canadian work permit application can rest on one of two employer-side numbers. If the job needed a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), the number is the LMIA number issued by Employment and Social Development Canada. If the job is exempt from an LMIA, the employer submits an offer of employment through IRCC’s Employer Portal and receives an offer of employment number instead.

IRCC’s instructions for form IMM 1295 spell out both shapes in one sentence: type the seven-digit number of your valid LMIA, or the alphanumeric offer of employment number. The instructions add that the offer number begins with the letter A and is followed by seven numbers. So the quick test is: seven digits, or A plus seven digits.

Where each number comes from

For an LMIA, the employer uses the LMIA Online Portal. ESDC’s walkthrough says the LMIA number is listed against each application under “LMIA applications” on the Employer Dashboard, and that the decision letter, named “LMIA confirmation” when approved or “LMIA refusal” when denied, is in the Inbox, reached from the Actions column. The employer holds the portal account, so a worker should ask the employer for the confirmation letter.

For an offer of employment number, IRCC’s Employer Portal guide says the number is the letter A followed by a 7-digit number, appears in the employer’s employment queue shortly after submission (wait 24 hours and check again if it is missing), and must be given to the worker, who needs it to submit the work permit application. The guide says an employer compliance fee of $230 is generally required, with exemptions, and that if the fee or offer is not submitted before the worker applies, the work permit is refused. The employer, not the worker, takes those steps.

How the check works

The checker strips spaces and hyphens and capitalises letters. Seven digits is reported as the right shape for an LMIA number. The letter A plus seven digits is reported as the right shape for an offer of employment number, with a reminder that it belongs to an LMIA-exempt job. Anything else is reported by what it resembles: one letter and nine digits is the usual shape of an IRCC application number, and eight or ten digits looks like a UCI.

That last step matters because people regularly paste their application number or UCI into the employer-number field. The checker names the likely mix-up so you can go back to the right document.

A worked example (hypothetical numbers)

A cook is offered a job. The employer says it applied for an LMIA and forwards a letter titled “LMIA confirmation” showing 0123456. Seven digits, so the shape fits. In another case a cook’s job is LMIA-exempt, and the employer sends A0123456 from the Employer Portal. A plus seven digits fits the offer number shape. If the employer sends A0123456 and you also have an IRCC acknowledgement showing W012345678, the first goes in the employer-number field and the second is your application number once IRCC assigns it. These numbers are invented for illustration.

If the employer gives you 12345678 (eight digits), the checker flags it as looking like a UCI. Ask the employer to re-send the confirmation letter rather than guessing which digit to drop.

Checking more than shape

A matching shape is not verification. ESDC publishes the Temporary Foreign Worker Program positive LMIA employers list on the Open Government Portal. The portal describes it as updated quarterly, organised by program stream, National Occupational Classification and business location, and as excluding personal names. The portal page does not mention LMIA numbers as a field. So the list can show whether an employer has had positive LMIAs, but this page does not claim it can confirm a specific number.

If you are worried an offer is fake, the better checks are to read the decision letter yourself, ask the employer for the offer of employment number or LMIA confirmation through its portal account, and talk to a regulated adviser.

Who this is for

Foreign workers filling in form IMM 1295, employers and HR teams explaining which number a worker needs, and settlement workers reviewing a package.

What this page does not cover

• It does not confirm an LMIA exists, is valid or matches an employer. Only the LMIA decision letter and IRCC can.
• It does not cover LMIA validity dates, fees or the processing stream, which this page has not sourced.
• It does not apply a check digit, because none is published.
• It does not store, send or log what you type.