How to Get Canada work Permit in 5 Steps

How to Get Canada work Permit in 5 Steps

A legal document that officially authorizes you to seek work, get employed, and earn an income in a foreign country, legally is called the work permit.

Canadian work permit is a legal permission to take a job within Canada if you are from a foreign country. This legal document (work permit) authorizes you to seek work, get employed, and earn huge salary in Canada.

Work permits are usually valid for 1-2 years. However, a Canadian visa officer can change the validity period of a work permit according to: The expiry of the worker’s passport or a travel document.

Ok that is right, in this article I will go through Canadian work permit that will give you all details you need to know from the beginning to the end process in obtaining your canadian work permit as a foreigner.

Let’s dive in to the process in details now.

In this article we will talk about 5 steps to get you Canada work permit as an individual that need to go to Canada and legally work.

However, there is important part we need to discuss before we go in to the deeper explanation of the 5 steps to get you Canadian work permit, and this important thing is categories of foreign workers in Canada.

There are two categories of foreign workers in Canada:

The first category are those who must complete the Canadian government’s labour market test, the test is known as Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA).

The second category are those who does not require Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA).

According to the Cohen Immigration Law Firm of Canada visa, has provide comprehensive explanation, Read below.

What is an LMIA?

Labour market test is called a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) and the purpose of the LMIA is to ensure the arrival of the foreign worker will not hurt workers in Canada. The federal government department that oversees the LMIA process is called Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC).

A positive or neutral LMIA is issued by ESDC when it is satisfied that there is no Canadian citizen or permanent resident available to do the job. A negative LMIA is issued when it believes there are domestic workers available to do the job and hiring a foreign national will harm workers in Canada.

Typically, employers in Canada that wish to hire a foreign national are required to get a positive or neutral LMIA from ESDC. Once this is granted, the foreign national can then go to the federal department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to get their work permit. Once they get their work permit, they can go ahead and move to Canada to begin working for the employer.

Further, if the Canadian employer is hiring for a position located in the province of Quebec, the foreign worker will need to obtain a Certificat d’acceptation du Québec (CAQ) in order to work temporarily in Quebec. The CAQ application will have to be submitted to Quebec’s Ministère de l’Immigration, Francisation et de l’Intégration (MIFI) at the same time as the LMIA is submitted to ESDC.

ESDC and MIFI have made available to employers a streamlined LMIA process to fill selected positions in Quebec without having to include proof of recruitment efforts.

The time an LMIA is not required?

During a limited number of situations foreign workers may obtain a work permit without the need for a LMIA. These work permits are typically referred to as LMIA Exempt Work Permits and include the following:

International agreements, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), or Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP);
Canadian interest:
As a result of significant economic, social or cultural benefits to Canadians;
As a result of reciprocal agreements Canada and its provinces/territories have entered into with other countries, such as youth and teacher exchange programs;
To allow international students studying in Canada to fulfill academic requirements known as co-op placements;
To allow the accompanying spouses/common-law partners of certain work permit and Study Permit holders residing in Canada to work in Canada;
To allow for charitable or religious work;
In recognition that certain persons in Canada for reasons other than the above-mentioned, such as the making of a refugee claim, need to support themselves;
Certain permanent residence applicants in Canada;
Certain migrant workers and their dependents in Canada on employer-specific work permits who are experiencing abuse, or who are at risk of abuse.

Now we are going to talk about the 5 steps to get you Canada work permit, look at the list below to give you a quick understanding of the steps as employer:

5 steps to get you Canada work permit

Apply for a Labour Market Impact Assessment
Employer extends Temporary Job Offer
Apply for Canadian work permit
Work Permit is issued
Understanding Canadian work permit application process

Apply for a Labour Market Impact Assessment

The Canadian government has two categories of work permits as we have stated, a work permit either needs a labour market test or is exempt from requiring it. In some cases, the labour market test is required to demonstrate that the issuance of a work permit to a foreign national will not have a negative impact on the employment and wages of workers in Canada, there is two labour market assessment in Canada. They are

Positive or neutral labour market impact assessment
Negative labour market impact assessment

To acquire a comprehensive understanding about the two we have described them above scroll and learn more about labour market impact assessment, or you can continues reading.

Employer extends Temporary Job Offer

Once a positive or neutral LMIA is granted, the Canadian employer must provide a copy of the LMIA approval letter along with a detailed job offer letter to the foreign worker, who will need those documents to apply for a work permit.

Apply for Canadian work permit

With the LMIA approval letter, the job offer letter (and the CAQ if applicable), the foreign worker can submit an application for a Canadian temporary work permit to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Depending on their country of citizenship, the foreign worker may need to obtain a temporary residence visa (TRV) to travel to Canada, and would therefore need to submit the temporary work permit application at a Canadian visa office abroad.

Work Permit is issued

The Canadian temporary work permit, will be issued at the point of entry by a Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officer at the time the foreign worker arrives in Canada.

Note: Most Canadian work permits are employer specific, otherwise referred to as “closed” work permits, and are granted for a specific job in Canada. Consequently, a foreign worker may only work for the employer specified on the work permit. As such, if the foreign worker finds a different employment and does not yet have permanent resident status, the foreign worker must apply for and receive a new work permit prior to changing employers or their position in Canada.

Understanding Canadian work permit application process

In this section I will talk about how to apply for a work permit in Canada, and this simple and well explained section will give full understanding of how to apply for work permit.

However, let’s talk about general eligibility requirement for work permit application.

Eligibility Requirement

Prove to an officer that you will leave Canada when your work permit expires,
Show that you have enough money to take care of yourself and your family members during your stay in Canada and to return home,
Obey the law and have no record of criminal activity (we may ask you to give us a police clearance certificate),
Not be a danger to Canada’s security,
Be in good health and have a medical exam, if needed,
Not plan to work for an employer listed with the status “ineligible” on the list of employers who failed to comply with the conditions,
Not plan to work for an employer who, on a regular basis, offers striptease, erotic dance, escort services or erotic massages, and
Give the officer any other documents they ask for to prove you can enter the country.
Global Skills Strategy applicants: You can only benefit from two-week application processing if you apply from outside of Canada.

Understand work permit

Most foreign nationals need a work permit to work in Canada and there are two Canada work permit:

Employer-specific work permit

An employer-specific work permit lets you work in Canada according to the conditions on your work permit, such as

The Name of the specific employer you can work for
How long you can work
The Location where you can work (if applicable)

Open work permit

An open work permit lets you work for any employer in Canada, except for one that is listed as ineligible on the list of employers who have failed to comply with the conditions, or regularly offers striptease, erotic dance, escort services or erotic massages

Who can apply

Prove to an officer that you will leave Canada when your work permit expires,

Show that you have enough money to take care of yourself and your family members during your stay in Canada and to return home,
Obey the law and have no record of criminal activity (we may ask you to give us a police clearance certificate),
Not be a danger to Canada’s security,
Be in good health and have a medical exam, if needed,
Not plan to work for an employer listed with the status “ineligible” on the list of employers who failed to comply with the conditions,
Not plan to work for an employer who, on a regular basis, offers striptease, erotic dance, escort services or erotic massages, and
Give the officer any other documents they ask for to prove you can enter the country.

Global Skills Strategy applicants: You can only benefit from two-week application processing if you apply from outside of Canada.

Applying for a work permit

You need to apply online for a work permit and you need to answer a few questions to find out how to apply.

Where are you applying from?

Needs to know where you are applying from:

Outside Canada
Inside Canada
At a port of entry

After you submit an application

Depending on where you currently live, outside or inside Canada, the authority will check your application to make sure you have provided all the necessary documents, including biometrics if required. This link will give you more explanation visit now after the application.

Arrival preparation

When you arrive in Canada, you must have

Your passport
Your visitor visa (if you need one) and
Any travel document(s) you’re carrying
You may also need to show proof that your work permit application was approved. One way to do this is to show the border services officer your port of entry letter of introduction. You’ll get this letter if you applied online or
Gave us an email address in the work permit application form for communicating with you
You can print this letter or bring an electronic version with you.

You should also bring supporting documents, such as proof that you meet the requirements of the job, such as proof of work experience and education
A copy of your employer’s positive labour market impact assessment (LMIA), if required
You’ll also need a copy of the certificat d’acceptation du québec (caq), if your employer needed an LMIA and you’ll work in Quebec
The offer of employment number your employer received when they submitted the offer of employment through the Employer Portal (if you are LMIA exempt and coming to work for a specific employer)

When you started working

Read your work permit carefully. It sets out all the conditions for working in Canada. If you don’t meet those conditions, you could be asked to leave Canada. You can also learn more about working in Canada here Visit here to learn more

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