Work permits are an integral processing application for foreign workers and are considered the backbone of the driving force of the Canadian economy. There are many different types and ways that a person can obtain a work permit. Some of the most popular are discussed in this article.
GTS or Global Talent Stream, is an application for work permit that assists companies who wish to hire high skilled workers, process them very quickly and efficiently. The LMIA is the first step which stands for Labour Market Impact Assessment. The processing of this LMIA can be very fast if the candidate the employer is seeking is high skilled which is generally one who has post secondary education, good English skills and excellent past work experience. The GTS category is reserved for particular occupation titles that are found in the Teer system that recently replaced the NOC system in Nov/22. The following web link explains and reviews the available occupation titles: https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/foreign-workers/global-talent/requirements.html#h20 In general the applicants must be computer technicians, web designers, computer game specialists, engineers and cybersecurity specialists as well.
Entrepreneurs and self employed professionals are called C11 work permit applicants. They are exempt from having to obtain an LMIA. The application must be well documented and support the business activities of the professional. Refer to the following web link for information about this stream: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/temporary-residents/foreign-workers/exemption-codes/canadian-interests-significant-benefit-entrepreneurs-self-employed-candidates-seeking-operate-business-r205-c11.html
Spousal open work permits are useful for the applicant who is either married or in a common law relationship with their partner, and their partner is in a high skilled position on their post graduate work permit or the spouse is on a study permit and is enrolled as a full time student. If so, the partner can apply for an open work permit. Very useful application and allows the spouse to work in any job. Refer to the following web link for information about this stream: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/study-canada/work/help-your-spouse-common-law-partner-work-canada.html
IEC work permits are reserved for citizens of countries who are part of the commonwealth and are visa exempt and are in the age group of either 18-30 or 18-35 depending upon which country the person is a citizen. For instance, if a citizen of Germany, the age group is up to age 35 years. Refer to the following web link for information about this stream: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/work-canada/iec/eligibility.html?selection=de-wh#selection
The work permits manual that is the bible for immigration officers is over 200 pages long with information that assists the officer to ensure they make a fair assessment and follow procedural fairness issues. There are many more details that can be explored in this area of immigration law.
David H. Davis is the founder and owner of Davis Immigration Law Office. He and his team can be reached by email at: david@daviddavislaw.com on the web at www.daviddavislaw.com or by phone at 204-956-2336 extension 208. David has over 33 years of legal experience in Canadian immigration legal matters.