Residents in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, have flagged an online posting from an unidentified local pizza restaurant offering $30 per hour for a cook. Some residents — primarily on local online forums and community groups — say the unusually high wage looks suspicious and have raised concerns it could be intended to help the employer qualify for federal hiring streams that remain open.
Recent changes to Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) rules in early January 2026 require employers to provide more documentation of recruitment efforts when applying to hire temporary foreign workers. Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) will also refuse to process low‑wage LMIA applications for positions located in Census Metropolitan Areas where the unemployment rate is 6% or higher; employers may still apply under the high‑wage stream if they offer pay at or above the provincial or territorial median wage, subject to the program’s advertising and recruitment requirements.
Some residents suspect the $30 hourly posting could be a “ghost posting” — a high‑wage advertisement intended to create paper evidence of a failed local search so an employer could argue a labour shortage. That allegation is a concern raised by community members and has not been verified by the employer or by ESDC. By comparison, the regional median wage for cooks is estimated at roughly $16–$18 per hour, making a $30 hourly offer markedly higher than typical local rates.
The worries echo a nearby 2024 case in Amherst, N.S., where a pizzeria was fined $126,000 for alleged Temporary Foreign Worker Program non‑compliance. Under the updated LMIA rules, employers must keep and submit evidence of their advertising and recruitment efforts. People who suspect misuse of the system can report concerns using the federal Online Fraud Reporting Tool or by calling Service Canada’s confidential tip line at 1‑866‑602‑9448.
