Workers

Most employers need a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) before they can hire a temporary worker. Before you start the hiring process, you must determine if you need an LMIA. If you do need an LMIA, you must hire the temporary worker through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).

The TFWP lets employers hire foreign workers to fill temporary labour and skill shortages. A positive LMIA will show that there is a need for the foreign worker to fill the job you are offering and that there is no Canadian worker available to do the job.

Once a positive LMIA has been issued, you should provide a copy of the confirmation letter to each temporary worker and advise each of them to apply for a work permit.

You can find more information about LMIAs, application forms and employers’ responsibilities on Employment and Social Development Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program web page.

If you are an employer from Quebec, your job candidate may also need to get a Certificat d’acceptation du Québec (CAQ) from the Quebec government before a work permit can be issued. For information about the CAQ, see the Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Diversité et de l’Inclusion (Quebec’s immigration department) website.

Open work permit

An open work permit is a work permit that is not job-specific. You may be eligible for an open work permit if you:

• are an international student who graduated from a designated learning institution and are eligible for the Post-Graduation Work Permit Program
• are a student who’s no longer able to meet the costs of your studies (destitute student)
• have an employer-specific work permit and are being abused or at risk of being abused in relation to your job in Canada
• applied for permanent residence in Canada
• are a dependent family member of someone who applied for permanent residence
• are the spouse or common-law partner of a skilled worker or international student
• are the spouse or common-law partner of an applicant of the Atlantic Immigration Pilot Program
• are a refugee, refugee claimant, protected person or their family member
• are under an unenforceable removal order
• are a temporary resident permit holder
• are a young worker participating in special programs

In each of these situations, you must meet additional criteria to be eligible. In most cases, you will have to pay the open work permit holder fee at the same time that you pay the work permit fee.

Skilled youth through International Experience Canada

If you’re a Canadian employer, you can hire skilled youth participating in International Experience Canada (IEC) to fill temporary jobs you haven’t been able to fill locally.

IEC has agreements with more than 30 foreign countries and territories that help youth (aged 18 to 35) from those areas get work permits faster. By hiring an IEC participant, you may be able to find skilled workers to fill jobs sooner.

You don’t need to get a Labour Market Impact Assessment to hire an IEC participant.

IEC has 3 streams that participants can apply to, although not every stream is available for all partner countries. Make sure the job you’re offering matches the requirements for the candidate’s stream.

(1) Young Professionals stream

Youth can gain professional Canadian work experience to help them compete in the global economy. To hire somebody from the Young Professionals stream, you need to make them a job offer.

The job must:

• contribute to the youth’s professional development
• meet all labour laws in the province or territory, including minimum wage requirements
• be classified as a National Occupational Classification (NOC) Code Skill Type Level 0, A or B
• A NOC C might be accepted if the youth can submit a post-secondary diploma, certificate or degree with their work permit application

(2) International Co-op (Internship) stream

Participants in this stream must be students registered at a post-secondary institution. The work placement or internship must be required in order to complete their study program. To hire somebody from the International Co-op (Internship) stream, you need to make them a job offer.

The job must:

• be directly linked to the participant’s field of study
• meet all labour laws in the province or territory, including minimum wage requirements

(3) Working Holiday stream

Participants in the Working Holiday stream have open work permits. There are no specific instructions to hire somebody with an open work permit. Follow the same hiring process as you normally would.

Global Skills Strategy

Employers want to attract top talent to work for their company, and they want a fast and predictable process to do this. To help employers find these highly skilled workers faster, we introduced the Global Skills Strategy (GSS). The strategy features faster application processing times, work permit exemptions and enhanced customer service.

Foreign nationals eligible for this priority processing must still meet all other eligibility and admissibility requirements, including providing police certificates if required. Eligible applicants must submit all required documents with their application. If they don’t submit the required documents, they will not get the 2-week processing time.

Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA)-exempt workers qualify for 2-week processing of their work permit application if they meet all of these requirements:

• They’re applying from outside Canada.
• Their job is either skill type 0 (managerial) or skill level A (professional) of the National Occupational Classification (NOC).
• The employer has submitted an offer of employment using the Employer Portal and paid the employer compliance fee.

Spouses and dependants

Workers’ spouse or common-law partner and dependent children are also eligible for 2-week processing of applications. This applies to applications for visitor visa, work permit, and study permit. Spouses, common-law partners and dependent children must submit a complete application and apply at the same time as the worker.