Foreign employees who are subject to the Canadian government's labour market assessment, dubbed the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), are classified as temporary foreign workers under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). In contrast, foreign employees who are not required to get an LMIA are covered under the International Mobility Program (IMP). The TFWP's goal is to enable Canadian firms to engage foreign employees when no suitable Canadian workers are available to undertake the job. The IMP's mission is to advance Canada's extensive economic, social, and cultural interests. Due to the IMP's larger policy objectives, the Canadian government does not employ the LMIA procedure with respect to foreign people who fall within any of the IMP's streams.

The International Mobility Program's (IMP) most frequently used LMIA-exempt streams are listed below.
• Significant Benefit
• Reciprocal Employment

Significant Benefit

Measures of "substantial social or cultural benefit" that are objective:

• a formal academic record demonstrating that the foreign national has a degree, diploma, certificate, or similar award from a college, university, school, or other institution of higher learning in the subject area in which they excel;
• Evidence from current or former employers demonstrating that the foreign national has significant full-time experience in the occupation for which he or she is seeking employment (significant in this context means ten or more years of experience);
• has been the recipient of national or international awards or patents; has been a judge of the work of others; evidence of recognition for accomplishments.

Reciprocal Employment

Employment reciprocity – foreign employees are hired in Canada when Canadians are offered comparable possibilities in other nations.
• Unusual work environments:
• Guides for fishing (border lakes)
• Counsellors at residential camps
• Personnel of the United States government (family members)
• Programs for youth exchange
• Academic collaborations (professors, visiting lecturers)
• Arts of performance