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  • #3239
    Petra Jichova
    Participant

    Hi everyone,

    I am wondering how to determine if a business falls under “seasonal industry”.

    A potential client reached out to me. It’s a painting company, usually having 14 or 15 full time employees from Oct till March, and around 37-40 employees during spring, summer and early fall. This happens periodically every year. My question is, what do we need to do to prove to ESDC that this employer and occupation fall under the definition of seasonal industry according to ESDC (Seasonal is defined as when both the industry and the occupation experience significant fluctuations in labour demand between “peak” and “off-peak” periods, usually occurring on or around the same dates every year)? I already called ESDC but the agent was not able to give me clear answers.

    If the employer falls under the definition, we can apply for a low wage LMIA for 7 people (because we would be able to use peak season weeks for calculation), but if it doesn’t, we can apply for 2 people only, so quite a difference.

    #3246
    Al Parsai
    Keymaster

    This is how I see it:

    For a job to qualify under a seasonal industry for LMIA purposes, the employer must meet two core criteria:

    Short Job Duration:

    If the job is offered for only a few months (e.g., 6 months or less), this strongly supports it being classified as seasonal.
    When applying for an LMIA, specifying that the job offer is for “peak season only” (e.g., April to September) reinforces the seasonal nature.
    Fluctuations in Labour Demand:

    The business must prove that it consistently experiences predictable fluctuations between peak and off-peak seasons. For painting companies, this is straightforward: peak demand is during spring and summer, while demand drops significantly in colder months.

    #3265
    Petra Jichova
    Participant

    Thank you Al! Does this mean that the job offer cannot be for the whole year? I’m trying to apply for a low-wage LMIA to support a 1-year WP duration.

    Thank you

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