Corporate Immigration Services

• The Labour Market Impact Assessment (“LMIA”) is part of the Temporary Foreign Workers Program (“TFWP”) which is managed by Employment and Social Development Canada (“ESDC”). In order to obtain an LMIA an employer must satisfy ESDC that there is no Canadian citizen or Permanent Resident who is able and willing to fill the position that the employer is offering.
• LMIAs are currently divided into different streams based on the skill and wage level needed to fill the vacant position.
• The LMIA generally requires a recruitment campaign, and the entire process can be quite lengthy. There are also significant compliance obligations placed employers who use this program to bring in foreign workers.

• When you are looking at expanding your business into Canada, the Start-Up Intra-Company transfer work permit can provide a strategic option.
• Multi-national companies can benefit from this category as a foothold in the Canadian market.

The Global Talent Strategy created new categories of work permits under the TFWP and the IMP. These include:

• For highly skilled individuals (NOC 0 and A) an exemption from the need to hold a work permit for 15 days in a six month period or 30 days in a 12 months period;
• The creation of the Global Talent Stream – a recruitment fee LMIA process which allows Canadian employers to hire foreign nationals in specific tech-related occupations;
• Two-week processing for work permits for highly skilled individuals (NOC 0 and A) applying under the IMP and the Global Talent Stream, when processed at consulates abroad.

This work permit category can be used for individuals whose work in Canada will bring significant economic, social or cultural benefit to the Canadian labour market, cultural landscape or other aspect of society. This is a discretionary category of work permit, and an employer must have a clearly articulated basis for making this type of request.

• The Emergency Repairs work permit category allows workers to enter Canada to carry out emergency repairs to industrial or commercial equipment in order to prevent disruption of employment regardless of whether the equipment is under warranty.
• Also, individuals who are coming to Canada to repair industrial or commercial equipment that is no longer under warranty or covered by an after-sales or lease agreement may use this category. This allows for preventative work where failure to repair industrial equipment immediately would impact productivity.

The Global Skills Strategy allows highly skilled workers to enter and work in Canada for short periods of time, specifically up to 15 consecutive days in a 6 month period of 30 consecutive days in a 12 month period. This category allows employers and workers greater flexibility than was previously available where the work required is highly skilled and the individual needs to work for only a very short period of time.

Business travelers are among the most frequent travelers to Canada. Understanding who is a business traveler and what can be done while in Canada on this status is a key issue in Canadian immigration corporate compliance.

• The International Experience Class, also known as the Working Holiday Program, or SWAP (US nationals) allows young people to work in Canada on open work permits, or for a specific employer or as part of their schooling. Generally IEC work permits require applicants to submit an application into a pool of candidates. Those who meet the requirements are invited to apply.
• Currently young people from the following countries may apply for an IEC based work permit: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Ukraine, United Kingdom.