The government fees and professional fees are not returned, the position usually goes unfilled for months, and the refusal is part of the applicant's record for later applications.
Price the refusal, not just the filing
Companies tend to budget the filing and ignore the downside. Filing fees are consumed whatever the outcome, professional fees are largely spent by the time a decision issues, and a request for evidence adds unbudgeted work. Beyond money, a refusal delays the business need by months and creates a history that the next application must address, since applicants are ordinarily asked about prior refusals and an inconsistent second attempt is worse than the first. Against that, the cost of an honest assessment before filing is small. Where the assessment says the knowledge is the trade's rather than the company's, the money is better spent on local recruitment, on structuring the work so it can be performed in Ontario, or on documenting a genuinely proprietary process for future use.
Hypothetical example: a custom-packaging-line builder needs a technician for a customer launch and assumes the filing charge is the only exposure. A first review produces a cost-and-contingency list: government charges, preparation time, possible follow-up evidence, a local backup and the cost of delay. Training logs, confidential-process records and customer commitments identify whether a credible petition exists. If the file cannot explain the company's knowledge without relying on general mechanical ability, spending more on a fast decision does not repair it. The company should decide early whether to invest in documentation for a later transfer or staff the launch locally.