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.
Caroline McDonald-Harker, a professor in the department of sociology and anthropology at Mount Royal University in Calgary, has studied the impacts of extensive flooding in southern Alberta in 2013 and the 2016 Fort McMurray wildfire.
Statistics Canada says the economy added 154,000 jobs in November as the labour market showed more signs it's returning to pre-pandemic levels. The unemployment rate fell to 6.0 per cent last month compared with 6.7 per cent in October.
The National Advisory Committee on Immunization has expanded its recommended eligibility for booster shots of COVID-19 vaccines in response to reports of waning protection against the virus. NACI now strongly recommends boosters for those over 50 and said all adults over the age of 18 may receive one as well.
In a 7-0 ruling today, the top court says Canadian provisions at issue in the case did not apply to the company, Glenhuron Bank Ltd., meaning tax on its income was not payable in Canada.
The Bloc Québécois says the issue is "very concerning" and has persuaded the board of internal economy to look into whether poor audio quality is leading to less interpretation into French, and from French into English.
Mary Ng led a multipartisan Team Canada mission to Capitol Hill for several days of meetings with U.S. lawmakers to talk about a number of lingering irritants.
