In order to be successful during your immigration process it is important to consider that the wage offered by your employer plays an important role. During a Labour Market Opinion or even when applying under a different stream for a work permit or for permanent residence, the immigration officers rely on the statistics provided by working-in-canada.
The prevailing wage for a position can be found at: http://www.workingincanada.gc.ca/ at the wages section. Once there, the user must enter their position and click search. A new page similar to the following will appear:
How to read the prevailing wage chart?
At the top part of the page you will find the name of the position and a four-digit number accompanied by a letter, the letter means the skill level according to the National Occupation Classification.
Depending on the geographical location where the position is being offered, the hourly wage varies, also it is important to know that the chart shows three different rates for each location: low, medium and high. For immigration purposes the medium wage is the one that prevails.
Please note that the officers from Service Canada are entitled to modify the prevailing wage if they believe that the new market conditions are not consistent with the working in Canada website.
Recommendation
As an employer make sure to comply with the prevailing wage prior to submitting an application in support of a foreign worker, also do some research at the time of submission to evaluate what are the market conditions and be prepared to answer when the officer asks whether you are willing to increase the wage initially offered.
Written by: Maria Campos
Vancouver Licensed Immigration Consultant
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