Temporary StatusHome > Services > Immigration Canada > Temporary Status
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Work Permits |
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| International Treaties Individuals who are citizens of the United States, Mexico, Chile, or one of the 124 countries that are signatories to the General Agreement on Trade in Services, may be eligible to make an application for a Work Permit by way one of three international treaties. Each treaty includes provisions to facilitate the international movement of workers. These treaties are the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Canada-Chile Free Trade Agreement and the General Agreement of Trade in Services. Within each of these agreements, there are provisions concerning business visitors, professionals and intra-company transferees. The NAFTA and CCFTA also include clauses pertaining to workers who may apply for a Work Permit pursuant to treaty trader or investor provisions. To make application as a professional, the applicant must be a professional noted in a specific list of professions. The applicant must hold the appropriate educational requirements and have a job offer in order to make application. In order to make application for a Work Permit as an intra-company transferee pursuant to the provisions of NAFTA or CCFTA, the foreign worker must have been employed at the company outside of Canada for one of the three years preceding the application. Employment in a managerial, executive or specialized knowledge position is necessary. The foreign worker can be transferred to an affiliate, branch, parent or subsidiary of the company where he or she is currently working. The GATS provisions have a distinction in that the company outside of Canada must have employed the applicant for not less than one year in the period immediately preceding the application. Additionally, the company must be engaged in a business that is noted in one of the GATS services sectors. These service sectors include: business services, communication services, construction services, distribution services, environmental services, financial services, tourism and travel-related services and transport services. Only the NATFA and the CCTFA contain an Investor category under which an application for a Work Permit can be made. Therefore, only Mexican, Americans or Chileans are eligible to make this type of application. Further, both the applicant's citizenship and that of the company must be the same and at least 50% of the company must be held by citizens of a signatory county. There are two types of Investor applications -- Treaty Investors and Treaty Traders. The applicant can be the investor, the trader or an employee of the investor or trader company. A Treaty Investor application may be made in circumstances where the applicant is responsible for directing and developing the operation of an enterprise in which there has had been a substantial investment or is actively in the process of investing a substantial amount of capital. Employees with skills essential to the success of the operation may also apply under this category. The amount of money to be invested depends upon the total value of each operation and the figure that is necessary to properly establish such a business. A Treaty Trader application can be made when a business or individual carries on substantial trade in goods or services with the other member nation. An American or Mexican operation must conduct over 50% of its international trade with Canada in order to be eligible. The trade can be with respect to either good or services. A foreign worker applying for Work Permit must hold a supervisory, executive or essential skills position. Labour Market Opinion from Service Canada As Service Canada is the government authority responsible for labour market concerns, immigration officers are asked to consider its expertise with respect to advice regarding whether a foreign worker will have a neutral or positive effect on the Canadian labour market, whether the foreign worker will be able to transfer skills to Canadians, or whether employing the individual in Canada would be beneficial. Additionally, Service Canada may look to whether an employer has taken steps to recruit Canadians. An application to Service Canada is a two-part process. The initial submissions are made to Service Canada and these submissions address the aforementioned concerns. If Service Canada provides positive labour market opinion, the second part of the application is filed. Upon receiving a positive opinion from Service Canada, the application for a Work Permit, and Temporary Resident Visa if necessary, is filed with a Canadian Consulate or Embassy. Certain applicants have the option of making application at a port of entry. National Confirmations Service Canada has provided National Confirmations in two areas. These include Confirmations for research chairs, and Information Technology workers. The foreign worker can apply directly for a Work Permit in these cases. The Information Technology workers able to utilise this program are Embedded Systems Software Designers, Software Products Developer, MIS Software Designers, Multimedia Software Designers, Senior Animation Effects Editors, Software Developer (Services) and Telecommunications Software Designers. Applicants must hold a minimum of a Baccalaureate degree or a technical school certificate, have knowledge of French or English, and two to four years of experience and training, specifically in designated technologies. Appropriate wages are also set out for this program. Service Canada Confirmation Exempt Categories To make a successful application for a Work Permit as a significant benefit, strong arguments must be presented to demonstrate there are exceedingly clear social, cultural or economic benefits to Canada. This category may be useful when applying for a Work Permit for a foreign worker of international acclaim or when the foreign worker must attend in Canada for a prestigious occasion. An application as an entrepreneur/self-employed may also be considered with a view to the potential benefit to Canada. Making this type of application will be more difficult when an application for permanent residence in the same category has been filed concurrently. However, in situations where there are compelling or urgent reason for admission when an applicant's permanent resident case has been approved but the documents have not been issued, an officer may consider issuing a Work Permit. As above, there must be a clear demonstration of the benefits that will accrue from the admission of the foreign worker. This intra-company transfer provision is open to all individuals, regardless of citizenship and whether their country of citizenship is party to a treaty, who have been employed by the company outside of Canada for at least one year out of the three previous years. The applicant must hold a senior managerial or executive position or a specialized knowledge position. The transfer to Canada must be to a similar position. The corporate relationship between the company in Canada and the company abroad must be parent, subsidiary, affiliate or branch. Applications for Work Permits can also be made in circumstances of reciprocal employment. The purpose of this Confirmation exemption is to allow for the gaining of international experience and the provision of cultural interchange for foreign workers, Canadians and employers. Although Citizenship and Immigration Canada has a number of formal exchange programs in place, the reciprocal employment provisions provide an opportunity for foreign workers to apply for Work Permits when a Canadian employer is able to demonstrate that the company participates in the international exchange of foreign workers. When a foreign worker in a professional, managerial or highly skilled occupation is issued a Work Permit for Canada, the spouse or common law partner of a skilled worker may also apply for a Work Permit. The principal worker's permit must be valid for a minimum period of 6 months and the duration of the Work Permit that is issued to the spouse will be for the same duration as the principal applicant. The Work Permit that the spouse or common law partner receives will be "open" in that he or she will be permitted to work in any occupation. Note that if the spouse or common law partner intends to work with children or in a health care field, he or she will be required to undergo medical examinations. |
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