Hiring Manufacturing Workers from Abroad: US and Canada Routes

Foreign companies building US plants often send managers and technical specialists on the L-1, including a new-office L-1 when the US entity is just starting. The first new-office approval lasts 1 year. Companies from treaty countries may also use the E-2 for executives and essential employees.

Engineers use the H-1B, whose lottery has been weighted by wage level since February 27, 2026. Canadian and Mexican engineers and industrial designers can use TN instead, with no cap. The $100,000 H-1B payment is not being collected while a June 8, 2026 court ruling stands; see the status page.

Installing or servicing equipment. A B-1 visitor can install, service, or repair commercial or industrial equipment bought from a company outside the US, when the purchase contract requires the seller to provide those services and the worker has specialized knowledge. It does not cover building a structure or ordinary production work. Get advice before relying on it.

Production and trades staff have no dedicated temporary visa. H-2B works only for a genuine temporary or peakload need and is capped at 66,000 a year. The permanent route is PERM and EB-3, which takes years; immigrant visa interviews abroad have been paused since August 25, 2026.

Compliance. Complete Form I-9 for every hire, including workers supplied by staffing agencies where you are a joint employer, and use E-Verify where your state or federal contracts require it.

LMIA. Compare the wage with the provincial median plus 20% (from July 17, 2026, for example, CAD $36.92 in Ontario and $31.33 in Manitoba):

• Food manufacturing (NAICS 311) is exempt from the low-wage refusal in 26 of 41 metro areas for July 10 to October 8, 2026.
• Other manufacturing is not exempt. Low-wage jobs at plants inside listed metro areas can't get LMIAs in that period; plants outside those areas can.
• Low-wage LMIAs need 8 weeks of ads with youth outreach, the workforce cap, round-trip travel, affordable housing, and private health insurance.

LMIA-exempt routes. Transfer managers and specialized-knowledge staff from your foreign plants as intra-company transferees, or hire US and Mexican engineers and other professionals under CUSMA. You pay the CAD $230 employer compliance fee instead of the LMIA fee.

Permanent residence:

• Saskatchewan lists manufacturing as a priority sector with no intake windows. See Employment Offer
• PEI's Occupations in Demand stream lists food processing roles, industrial butchers, and material handlers
• Ontario's Workforce Priority stream accepts job offers in any occupation, subject to employer rules
• Express Entry trades and STEM categories for skilled staff
• AIP and RCIP for designated employers in those regions

See US costs, Canada costs, and the sponsorship cost estimator. To see which US manufacturers sponsor H-1B workers, use our H-1B sponsor database.

For a new plant, map the immigration plan with the construction schedule: who installs equipment, who trains local staff, and who stays long term.

• Using B-1 visitors for production work or for installation not tied to a foreign purchase contract.
• New-office L-1 plans that can't support an extension because the US plant is not staffed in time.
• Assuming all manufacturing is exempt from Canada's refusal areas. Only food manufacturing is.
• Filing H-2B for year-round lines.
• Staffing-agency workers without I-9 oversight in the US.
• Changing a Canadian worker's duties or plant without a new permit.