The federal government's newest work permit program to attract technology workers to Canada reached capacity only one day after its launch.
As we highlighted in our previous blog post, Canada has announced new plans for attracting technology workers to the country – including opening the door to U.S. H-1B specialty visa holders and their families. On July 16, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) launched a temporary program allowing H-1B specialty visa holders to apply for a three-year open work permit in Canada. By July 17, the limited spaces available for this program had already filled up.
While no other applications are being accepted for this program, the IRCC offers many other immigration pathways for employers to bring technology workers into Canada.
Business Visitor Entry
A Business Visitor is an individual who enters Canada for international business activities without directly entering the Canadian labour market. Individuals who enter as Business Visitors do not need a work permit to work in Canada. Business Visitors include individuals who enter Canada to observe site visits or to meet people from companies with which they are conducting business.
For foreign nationals entering Canada to work in IT occupations, the most common options used for Business Visitors are:
1. Short-term work permit exemption
Short-term (15 or 30 days) work permit exemptions are available to highly skilled foreign nationals entering Canada to perform work in an occupation listed in TEER 0 or 1 of the NOC matrix.
IT occupations that qualify include:
- Computer and information system managers
- Computer engineers
- Data scientists
- Electrical and electronics engineers
- Cybersecurity specialists
- Business system specialists
- Information system specialists
- Database analysts and database administrators
- Software engineers and designers
- Computer systems developers and programmers
- Software developers and programmers
- Web developers and programmers
- Web designers
- Producers, technical, creative and artistic directors and project managers – visual effects and video game
2. After-sales service/warranty and training and installation provisions
Foreign nationals may be considered business visitors if they are seeking entry related to service contracts in which after-sales service, warranty, installation or training services are being provided. This applies only when the service contract is for specialized commercial or industrial equipment or software purchased or leased outside Canada.
International Mobility Program (LMIA-exempt) Work Permits
International Mobility Program work permits are work permits foreign nationals can obtain without a Canadian employer having to establish that there are no Canadians or Canadian permanent residents willing and able to fill the position before it is offered to a foreign national.
Generally, these types of work permits are less complicated, faster to obtain and require employer filing fees that are much cheaper than the required fees for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA).
Some of the more widely used International Mobility Program work permits for IT workers are:
1. The emergency repair personnel/repair personnel for out-of-warranty equipment provisions:
Emergency repair personnel are persons whose admission is required in Canada to carry out emergency repairs to industrial or commercial equipment in order to prevent disruption of employment regardless of whether the equipment is under warranty. This category is commonly used when a person does not qualify for entry as a business visitor to provide after-sales service or warranty work.
2. Free trade agreement work permits:
Canada has a number of bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements that permit foreign workers from a number of countries to work in Canada. These agreements do not create an open market for foreign nationals from these countries to work, but stipulate which occupations qualify for LMIA-exempt work permits.
To qualify or obtain a work permit under a free trade agreement, a foreign national must be working in an occupation permitted under that agreement and must meet the job qualifications set out for that particular occupation.
3. Mobilité francophone:
Foreign nationals who will be employed in a province or territory outside of Quebec and who also are qualified and will be working in any occupation (except primary agriculture operations), may be eligible for a Mobilité francophone work permit. As a result, every IT occupation qualifies for this type of work permit.
While individuals with this type of work permit do not need to work in a French speaking workplace while in Canada, they must establish that they can speak and listen in French at an intermediate level.
4. Intra-company transfers:
The intra-company transfer permits multinational companies to temporarily transfer qualified executive, managerial and specialized knowledge employees to Canada from their foreign offices. Intra-company transfers are not limited to workers in the IT sector. Intra-company transfers can work in a variety of occupations and in a variety of sectors and must be working in an executive, managerial or specialized knowledge capacity for their employer abroad for at least one year in the three years before applying to work in Canada – with some exceptions (such as in the free trade agreements with Columbia and Peru).
LMIA-based work permits under the Global Talent Stream (GTS)
The Global Talent Stream is an immigration program that allows Canadian employers, specifically tech companies and employers of IT workers, to expedite the hiring of foreign workers to fill specialized IT occupations. Applications for the Global Talent Streams program are processed under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TWP) and LMIAs must be obtained. Unlike regular LMIAs, Global Talent Stream LMIAs are devoted to highly skilled workers in specialized occupations, prioritizing those with experience in engineering and tech-related fields.
Normally, an LMIA application takes months to prepare, submit and process. With the Global Talent Stream, many steps to the LMIA application are removed and the processing time could be much faster. One of the major steps eliminated by the GTS is the requirement for a company to attempt to recruit Canadians and Canadian permanent residents for the position first.
Next steps for employers
We dive deeper into these pathways for bringing skilled workers into Canada in our e-book, Canadian Immigration Strategies for Cross-Border Tech Companies. Download this free e-book now.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
