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.
Still, inflation is well above the Bank of Canada’s two per cent target. Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem made that very point in an op-ed published by the National Post on Tuesday, saying inflation "remains far too high" and emphasizing the central bank's role in bringing inflation down.
The glitch-prone app touted as an efficient border tool early in the pandemic has become a punching bag for critics who question its utility — but ArriveCan may be here to stay. The government insists it's a useful tool. Critics say it has outlived its use, if it ever had one.
Earlier, British Columbia's Environment Ministry had said that only one wolf was still missing at the zoo, located about 55 kilometres east of Vancouver in the community of Aldergrove. It did not say how many had escaped at the facility, which says it has nine adult grey wolves and six cubs.
Based on the initial information it appears that the fires were deliberately started. Due to the short time frame and close proximity of the fires police believe that they are likely related.
New data from the coroner's service says at least 1,095 residents are believed to have died from January to June this year, at an average of six deaths per day. The report found more than three-quarters of the those who died this year have been male, and most were between the ages of 30 and 59.
The figures are drawn from a survey conducted as part of an internal Canada Border Services Agency evaluation that looked at how the agency processed travellers, using a lens of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, age, and mental or physical disability, and the interaction between these factors.
