GupShup - Rakesh Sharma on LMCIA Applications & more.

April 7, 2026·27 min·2 clips

Eight companies can hire foreign workers without LMIA, including administrative assistants, under a new Global Hyper Growth Project.

1. Gup Shup (Radio Rim Jim) host Shushma ji and co-host Natasha interview Rakesh Sharma, an immigration consultant with 20 years of experience, on a range of current Canadian immigration issues. 2. Rakesh Sharma is a partner at Alliance Immigration, located at Little India Plaza, 8028128 State Unit 207, reachable at 604-593-2922. 3. The episode covers four practical areas: LMIA refusal trends, the Global Hyper Growth Project policy, visitor visa documentation for a parent's return visit, and how international students can build CRS points via remote foreign employment. 4. Sharma describes a pattern of sweeping LMIA refusals affecting employers in remote northern Canadian areas where local candidates are unavailable, saying ESDC officers are under pressure to refuse applications regardless of employer compliance. 5. He argues that the government's current approach follows neither a 'middle path' nor consistent standards: it previously approved LMIAs for non-existent firms, and is now refusing applications from legitimate businesses. 6. Sharma uses fast food restaurants shutting down overnight shifts as a concrete indicator of how LMIA refusals are draining small-margin businesses, calling it 'the beginning of the end' for those operators. 7. He estimates close to 2 million temporary foreign workers are currently in Canada and says the refusal pattern is pushing employer disputes to federal court, consuming taxpayer money and court time. 8. On the Global Hyper Growth Project (GHP), Sharma names eight companies that received LMIA-exempt hiring rights under Canada's Innovation Stream and reveals that at least some are using this to bring in administrative assistants — a job category he argues Canadians could fill. 9. He calls this 'total abuse of power' and distinguishes it from practitioner-level or worker-level abuse, framing it explicitly as government-level misuse of a high-skilled immigration pathway. 10. Co-host Natasha asks about sponsoring her 79-year-old mother-in-law's return visitor visa; Sharma clarifies that three key documents are required: the prior year's Notice of Assessment (proof of income), proof of assets, and six months of bank statements (proof of liquid funds). 11. Sharma warns that immigration officers increasingly require the Canadian inviter to also provide six months of bank statements, even though this is technically not a legal requirement, and suggests complying to avoid giving officers a pretext for refusal. 12. He cautions against using Indian-based agents for immigration applications, citing a case where a CBSA officer found another client's passport number and personal details had been misdirected, and a case of fraudulent CBSA document use at Vancouver airport. 13. On Bill C-12 (the new immigration law), Sharma explains it grants the Governor in Council power to cancel, suspend, or amend immigration documents in bulk — including work permits, study permits, temporary resident visas, and PRs — when fraud, national security, public health, or administrative error is involved. 14. He clarifies a key limit of C-12: the government cannot revoke temporary resident status or strip anyone of their status outright, distinguishing it from US ICE-style enforcement. 15. On Express Entry, Sharma notes the CRS score is at 509, and offers a tip for international students: remote work for a foreign employer (e.g., an Indian company) while studying full-time in Canada counts as foreign work experience for CRS purposes without violating the 24-hours-per-week Canadian work restriction. 16. He says students who can document this remote work with login records, pay stubs, promotion letters, and bank deposits can accumulate up to two years of foreign experience by graduation, boosting their CRS score through the combined Canadian-plus-foreign experience pathway. 17. The episode mixes studio hosts Shushma ji and co-host Natasha with Sharma in a back-and-forth interview format, with listener questions interspersed; tone is conversational and often opinionated. 18. Sharma is candid about his own position as an industry stakeholder and explicitly notes that government officials listen to shows like this for policy input, explaining why he speaks openly. 19. South Asian Canadian immigrants and international students navigating Canadian immigration, temporary foreign worker programs, and Express Entry would find this episode directly practical. 20. Listeners looking for neutral government-side perspectives or who are unfamiliar with Canadian immigration terminology will find the episode assumes significant prior knowledge.

As heard by us

A plain-spoken immigration discussion that turns policy jargon into everyday terms.

The conversation keeps a steady grip on a tricky policy question: how Canada’s LMIA rule fits with a newer Innovation Stream hiring path, and why some firms can bring workers in without the usual process.

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Why you'd press play

A sunny, friendly interview unpacks a recent Innovation Stream hiring carve-out and why LMIA-free recruitment is drawing concern.

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