Work Permit & Extensions

Work permits are available for a wide-range of skilled professions. There are many instances where HRDC confirmation is not required. If you are a US citizen working in one of the qualified professions, you can apply at the port of entry under NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). In fact, if you are an entrepreneur, self-employed or investor classes, you don’t even need a job offer to work in Canada, you just have to apply for a work permit. If you are a musician, news reporter, clergy/religious priest or emergency crew, you might not need a work permit to work in Canada.

Employers are required to apply for a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) in most cases before they can hire foreign workers.  To obtain a positive LMO, the employer must show recruitment efforts, i.e. prove that there is no Canadian worker available to do the job in question and a foreign worker is therefore needed.

In some instances, Canadian immigration regulations allow for “Open” Work Permits, which are not employer specific.

Note that a Work Permit is not an immigration document.  Canada Temporary Work Permit is for those foreign skilled workers who plan on working in Canada for temporary period of time.  To work and live in Canada on a Permanent basis, foreign workers must undertake the Canadian immigration process.

However, a Temporary Work Permit may be a stepping stone to Canadian Permanent Residency.  Once in Canada on a Temporary Work Permit, a foreign worker may qualify for Canadian immigration (Permanent Residency) under the Canadian Experience Class (CEC), through a Skilled Worker category, or through one of the Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP).

You may extend your Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) status and for such extension you should apply 30 days before your status expires, for the following TRV:

• extend your visitor, student or work status
• change the type of permit you hold (for example, from a student to a work permit)
• change a condition of your permit (for example, if you are studying and you want to change schools, or if you are working and your want to change jobs)

Visions Canada can assist with the entire work permit process for both the Canadian employers as well as Foreign Workers. Get in touch with us to know more details!