By Gilda Villaran

On February 24, 2012, a new simplified process for certain foreign workers seeking entry to the Province of Quebec was announced. Instead of applying to only seven information technology occupations, as before, the simplified process will apply to 44 occupations in a variety of fields. This is an important development not only for the American companies that want to relocate foreign employees to Quebec. It is a clear departure from the previous system. Other provinces may be interested in following Quebec’s example, to better respond to the needs of regional labor markets.

Employers who make employment offers to a foreign worker in any of these 44 occupations in the Province of Quebec will benefit from the simplified process. The main advantage is that employers do not have to prove that they tried to recruit a Canadian or permanent resident to fill the position. The list of 44 occupations has been prepared with the participation of Emploi Quebec, a Quebec government agency. It is supposed to reflect the occupations for which there is a well-known labor shortage.

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By Isabelle Dongier

Canadian employers must always ensure that their foreign employees are duly authorized to work in the country and remain so authorized during the complete period of their stay. To do so, employers can renew their employees’ work permits. But beware — these renewals are fraught with delays and technicalities. The following outlines just how diligent employers must be to ensure work permits are renewed appropriately.

Golden Rule: Initiate work permit renewal process well in advance
Temporary work permits have an expiration date and the explicit condition that their holder must leave the country by then. Should employment continue beyond the expiration date, a new work permit must be obtained. Many people think that an overstay of only a few days or weeks will not be an issue. But, Immigration Canada takes this rule very seriously and imposes significant penalties on noncompliant workers and their employers. Although a remedial “reinstatement” procedure may be available for 90 days, it remains discretionary and cumbersome. It is therefore important to make sure that all necessary steps to obtain a new work permit are taken well in advance, in light of the current lengthy government processing times.

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By Gilda Villaran

It’s common for companies to fill executive positions in Canada and the United States with one executive. That person is based in the United States and commutes to Canada on a regular basis to provide services to the Canadian affiliate.

Since such executives are providing services to a Canadian company, they can’t qualify as business visitors in Canada. Instead, they need a work permit. Although not difficult to obtain under the NAFTA exemption for intra-company transferees (citizens from other countries in the same situation can also obtain work permits under another non-NAFTA exemption), these work permits are time limited. But on September 19, 2011, Citizenship and Immigration Canada issued a new Operational Bulletin (OB 346) that allows employers to “recapture” the foreign workers’ time not spent in Canada.

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By Gilda Villaran

In our December 20, 2010, article, we discussed the ways to become a permanent resident of Canada. In this article we will briefly explain how to keep this status.

In contrast with Canadian citizenship, which in principle lasts for life, permanent resident status can be lost if the person doesn’t meet the residency requirements established by Canadian law. The requirements aim at ensuring that immigrants make Canada their home. Policymakers have drafted the rules in order to avoid people obtaining permanent resident (PR) status as a matter of convenience without making a commitment to a life in Canada.

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By Isabelle Dongier

Foreign workers can be an important source of labor for Canadian employers, permitting them to fill shortages in a variety of professions and industries. In an attempt to better protect vulnerable foreign workers from what the government has called unscrupulous employers and agents, the Canadian government will introduce a new regime for Canadian temporary work permits on April 1.

The new regime has been described as one where “good employers replace bad employers.” It will govern employers hiring temporary foreign workers in Canada — both future applications and renewals of current work permits.

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By Gilda Villaran

How can an American resident become a Canadian citizen? Only permanent residents of Canada can apply. Therefore, one must start with applying for permanent resident status. There are various ways to become a permanent resident of Canada. This article will focus on those who apply in the “economic class.”

For those applying in the economic class, there are federal programs that are applicable across Canada as well as provincial programs that may facilitate the process.

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By Susan Bradley and Gilda Villaran

In November 2009, we started a discussion on the fundamentals of Canadian work permits. Until now, Canadian employers didn’t have to obtain a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) from Services Canada for certain information technology (IT) professionals. Employers didn’t have to prove that they had advertised the position, that they had conducted reasonable recruitment efforts and that none of the local candidates, if any, were qualified to fill the IT position.

Beginning in 1997, it was assumed that there was a shortage of IT professionals in Canada. This assumption and the exception to the LMO requirement are no longer. Effective September 30, 2010, foreign IT specialists generally require an approved LMO from Services Canada before a work permit will be issued.

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By Bruce Grist and Derek Knoechel

The transfer of employees from foreign-based companies to Canadian-based affiliates is an increasingly common feature of the Canadian labor market. Many employers are familiar with the often complicated process of obtaining the necessary work permits for such employees at the beginning of the transfer. However, ending the relationship between the transferred employee and the Canadian-based employer can present its own challenges. Some of these challenges are illustrated by the British Columbia Supreme Court’s recent decision in Nishina v. Azuma Foods (Canada) Co., Ltd.

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by Isabelle Dongier

In our March 22, 2010 article, we explained the simplified and expedited processes for obtaining a temporary work permit for foreign employees transferred from outside Canada to a Canadian parent, subsidiary, branch or affiliate company. These intracompany transfers provide a significant benefit for companies — they exempt them from demonstrating their reasonable efforts to fill the position with a Canadian citizen or permanent resident.

One of the requirements to meet the intracompany exemption is that both the Canadian and the foreign company are doing business at the time of the application. They must be regularly, systematically and continuously providing goods and services in their respective countries. What about when the Canadian company is being set-up and not yet doing business in Canada at the time of the application? In that case, special guidelines for a start-up may apply.

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By Gilda Villaran

In our January 4, 2010, article titled Obtaining a Work Permit in Canada: The Labour Market Opinion Process, we explained that in order to get a work permit for a foreign worker, an employer in Canada generally must first obtain a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) from the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (Service Canada). In order to obtain a positive LMO, Canadian employers must prove that they have made reasonable efforts to fill the position with a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. This article discusses Service Canada’s advertising requirements relating to this “reasonable efforts” obligation.

Service Canada’s minimum advertising requirements were recently modified. And note that the requirements are slightly different for the Province of Québec. If you are hiring an employee who will work in Québec, make sure you follow the Québec rules.

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