Visitors can continue applying for work permits inside Canada
Darpan News Desk IANS, 02 Mar, 2023 11:50 AM
Toronto, March 2 (IANS) Foreign nationals who are in Canada as visitors and who receive a valid job offer will be able to apply for and receive a work permit without having to leave the country, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced.
The move, an extension of a Covid-era temporary public policy that was set to expire today, has now been extended by two years, until February 28, 2025.
Visitors applying under this public policy who held a work permit within the last 12 months will also continue to be able to request interim work authorization to begin working for their new employer more quickly.
Prior to this temporary policy change, those applying to work in Canada would typically need to apply for their initial work permit before they came to Canada.
If they were already in Canada with visitor status when they were approved for a work permit, they would need to leave the country to be issued their work permit.
With this policy in place, leaving Canada isn't necessary.
Those looking to benefit from this temporary public policy must have valid status in Canada as a visitor on the day they apply, and have a job offer that is supported by a labour market impact assessment (LMIA) or an LMIA-exempt offer of employment.
An LMIA is an application that an employer makes to Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) to evaluate if hiring foreign workers will have a positive, neutral or negative impact on the Canadian economy.
If ESDC deems the impact is negative, the employer will not be eligible to hire foreign nationals, according to CIC News.
Under the policy, applicants must also submit an application for an employer-specific work permit no later than February 28, 2025.
IRCC said that continuing this policy makes visitors an option for employers in Canada, many of whom are facing significant labour shortages during a period of economic expansion.
There was an overall decrease in the number of vacancies to 848,000 from over one million, according to Statistics Canada data from December 2022.
However, key sectors like healthcare, food and social assistance still need more employees to fill in-demand positions.
On Tueaday a series of vehicle owners contacted the Port Moody Police Department reporting that their tires had been slashed overnight sometime between October 3 at 9 p.m. and October 4 at 9 a.m. These incidents occurred on View Street and Highview Place and are all believed to be connected.
B.C. Premier John Horgan says the New Democrat government's crime-fighting agenda involves more than increasing arrests of alleged violent offenders. Horgan says he agrees with Attorney General Murray Rankin who told the legislature on Tuesday that a focus on more arrests of prolific offenders to curb crime would be "futile."
Gasoline prices in Canada continue to creep higher ahead of the Thanksgiving long weekend. And while the price of crude oil slumped in September, with the international benchmark Brent sagging as low as US$84 in recent days after spending most of the summer months over $100 per barrel, it jumped on Wednesday after the OPEC Plus alliance of oil-exporting countries decided to sharply cut production.
Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos and the federal government have tabled a new and long-awaited plan in the House of Commons to improve access to diabetes treatment and prevention in Canada. Liberal MP Sonia Sidhu called for the framework as part of a private member's bill that became law in 2021.
The VPD says it launched an investigation Tuesday after being alerted by a social media post that the glass covering the memorial in Coal Harbour had been shattered. Const. Jason Doucette says officers are looking into any links to what he called a "similar crime" in which glass sections of the Olympic Cauldron less than 200 metres away were smashed on Saturday morning.
A statement posted to social media by the B.C. Conservation Officer Service says the family of four turned and ran when the bear charged them Monday evening. The service says the bear chased them and attacked one woman, while another woman and a teenage boy were injured trying to help her.
