IRCC Allows Visitors To Apply For Work Permits
According to a recent announcement by Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada or IRCC, foreign nationals who are able to secure an employment offer while living in Canada can now apply for a work permit.
It is important to acknowledge that this policy will remain effective until 28 February 2025.
Moreover, this policy appears as an extension of the temporary public policy introduced during COVID-19.
Let’s see what makes an applicant eligible to apply for a work permit under this policy;
- You must have a valid status as a visitor in Canada at the time of submitting your application.
- You must have a valid Labour Market Impact Assessment or LMIA, with your job offer. Otherwise, you must have an employment offer with an LMIA exemption.
- You have to apply for an employer-specific work permit before 28 February 2025.
- Lastly, you need to fulfill the rest of the eligibility criteria.
So, what makes a job offer valid? For starters, your employment offer should be in written form while being supported by a positive or neutral Labour Market Impact Assessment from Employment and Social Development Canada or ESDC. Plus, you must secure a full-time, non-seasonal job for a year or more, provided that you have obtained permanent resident status.
In case you are wondering, a Labour Market Impact Assessment is an application filed by an employer at Employment and Social Development Canada. It helps evaluate the outcome of hiring an international worker on Canada’s economy. For example, if ESDC concludes that employing a foreign worker will turn out to be negative, the employer won’t be allowed to go forward with the hiring.
There are also special instructions for visitors who have been work permit holders in the last 12 months to obtain interim work authorization. It enables those visitors to begin working for their new employer while waiting for the approval of their work permit application.
What’s important to note here is that people had to apply for a work permit before coming to Canada until the new policy became effective. Therefore, foreign nationals with visitor status in Canada had to exit the country to have their work permit issued. However, now this step seems irrelevant.
Labour Market Gaps In Canada
The temporary public policy was introduced during COVID-19 when employers urgently needed to fill job positions in Canada, but the pandemic’s restrictions made immigration a challenging endeavour.
It seems that Canada wants to reduce job vacancies to tackle the issue of labour shortage. Did you know Canada’s employment rate in January stood at 5%? Needless to say, this is a historic moment in Canada’s history.
Furthermore, statistics obtained in December 2022 showed that job vacancies in Canada reduced from more than a million to 848000 within a year. Regardless, various industries still need to fill job positions with skilled employees. For instance, the healthcare and social assistance sector has 149800 vacancies, and the retail trade sector has 100200 vacancies. Similarly, there are 108000 vacancies in accommodation and food services.
We hope you found this information helpful. Follow our blogs for the latest updates and informative content on Canadian immigration.
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