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Work Permit

Work Permit (LMIA required)

Canada is a great place to live and work. Working in Canada can be a life-changing experience, with many benefits and opportunities for growth. The Canadian shortage occupations list could be your key to finding employment here, but you’ll need skills and experience to qualify. In most scenarios, you will need to apply for a Work Permit if you want to work in Canada.

Foreign nationals “must not work in Canada unless authorized to do so by a work permit or Regulations.” If a foreign national works in Canada without proper authorization, the legislation enables officers to take action against the individual. Working without authorization is a contravention of Canada’s legislation and can result in a finding of inadmissibility under the IRPA.

If an employer in Canada wants to hire a worker from overseas or hire a foreign national in Canada who is on visitor/ student status, they first need to apply for an LMIA application to Service Canada. Once they successfully receive a positive LMIA from Service Canada, the foreign national can use that LMIA to apply for a work permit in IRCC. In short, if foreign nationals want to work in Canada, they need to find an employer in Canada who already has or is eligible to get a positive LMIA from Service Canada. Only then that they can apply for a work permit if they are not qualifying under the LMIA-Exempt category.

Not all foreign nationals are required an LMIA to apply for a work permit in Canada. Various kinds of work permits don’t need an LMIA, such as PGWP, Spousal Open Work Permit, BOWP, etc. Some international agreements exist between Canada and some other foreign countries (e.g. International Experience Class (IEC)) whose citizens may apply for a work permit without an LMIA.

Work Permit (LMIA-exempt)

While the ‘default’ basis for a work permit is an LMIA, there are numerous exceptions where IRCC has determined significant benefits to Canada in bypassing the LMIA process.

There are some international agreements (FTA, CETA, IEC) between Canada and other foreign countries whose foreign nationals are not required to get an LMIA before applying for a work permit. Apart from international agreements, there are various categories like airline personnel, Television and film production workers, spouses of students, refugee claimants, vulnerable workers, and provincial nominee applicants that can apply directly for a work permit without needing an LMIA. Each exemption is given a “category code” or “exemption code”. There are currently over 40 exemption codes available for which no LMIA is required.

IRCC maintains an up-to-date list in its processing manual for officers, which can be found here.

If your situation doesn’t fall under the LMIA-exemption category, you need to get an LMIA from an employer if want to apply for a work permit.

Contact Us, if you want to discuss your situation with us and see what are options available to you in applying for a work permit.

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