October 26th - Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) introduced a new electronic application system for employer specific work permit applications under a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) exemption, including NAFTA and International Mobility applications.

This new electronic system further compliments and clarifies previous changes brought into effect in February 2015. The previous changes required an employer hiring a foreign worker who qualified for an LMIA exemption, to initiate the work permit process by first submitting, via email a completed application form IMM5802 "Offer of Employment to a Foreign National Exempt from a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA)" together with the employer compliance fee of $230CAD (where applicable).

From February 2015, these mandatory steps would be followed before a foreign national could apply for a LMIA-exempt work permit at a visa office or if applicable, at a port of entry into Canada.

Under the newly introduced system, CIC no longer requires the email submission of the IMM 5802 Offer of Employment form. Instead, employers will submit their applications directly through an online Employer Portal. The Employer Portal is accessed with either a GCKey or the Sign-In Partner (SecureKey Concierge) service which all employers hiring under an LMIA exemption, must register. The employer portal application must be submitted prior to submitting the work permit application. Once submitted, an offer of employment (Labour Market Impact Assessment [LMIA]-exempt) ID number will be assigned to the employer on behalf of the foreign worker. The foreign national ID number will be included with the work permit application to enable assessment.

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The content of this article reflects the personal insight of Attorney Colin Singer and needs no disclaimer.