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.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is getting ready to shuffle his cabinet on Wednesday, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the plan. They confirmed to The Canadian Press that the Liberal front bench will get a slight makeover to account for one minister who has asked for lighter cabinet duties for personal reasons.
A statement from the B.C. General Employees' Union says its bargaining committee returned to the bargaining table with the province's public service agency last Thursday and they've made "significant progress" towards a tentative agreement.
Finance Minister Selina Robinson says the province's economy in 2021-22 outperformed both public and private sector predictions. The April 2021 budget, delivered during some of the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, originally forecast a deficit of $9.7 billion, but revenues improved throughout the year.
Horgan's comments come after an infant in Barriere, B.C., reportedly died waiting for an ambulance, prompting Mayor Ward Stamer to call for flexibility around which first responders are allowed to take patients to hospital.
“The woman who was grabbed by the leg left the area before the police arrived, and investigators would like to speak with her,” says Cst Jason Doucette. “There could also be other people who were assaulted in the area who have not yet come forward. Please make a report if you’ve been a victim of crime.”
The deceased have been identified as as 25-year-old Tanner Liefting, 30-year-old Brandon Richard Johnson, and 34-year-old Jagsir Singh Gill. Johnson and Liefting were in the same vehicle and were both from Chilliwack, while Gill was from Calgary.
