NAFTA Work Permit Provisions to Carry over to United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement (USMCA)

On September 30 2018, the governments of Canada, the USA, and Mexico announced agreement in principle on the provisions of the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement, or USMCA. While the USMCA is not yet implemented and the provisions of NAFTA currently remain in place, the expectation is that USMCA will replace NAFTA once the agreement is signed […]

READ MORE

Changes to Medical Examination Requirements

Work permit applicants who have resided in designated countries are required to undergo immigration medical examinations (IME) when seeking admission for greater than six months or in cases in which the work is in direct contact with the Canadian public (e.g., teachers, nurses, etc.). The government of Canada has recently revised the list of designated […]

READ MORE

Enhancements to Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program

The government of Alberta has announced a number of enhancements to the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP), a collaboration with the federal government that permits the province a method to select its own candidates for permanent resident status. Alberta is one of numerous provinces that offer such programs at this time, which are intended to […]

READ MORE

The Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement

The Government of Canada has implemented new cross-border employment provisions under the Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA. Under CETA, new provisions for work in Canada are enacted for the following categories: 1. Business Visitors; 2. Business Visitors for Investment Purposes; 3. Investors; 4. Independent Professionals; 5. Contractual Service Providers; 6. Intra-Corporate […]

READ MORE

Changes to Labour Market Impact Assessment Recruiting Requirements (UPDATED)

Employment and Social Development Canada has announced a number of changes the requirements for Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) applications submitted on or after August 28th, 2017. As Such recruiting efforts must generally run for four weeks, any new recruiting effort should consider these requirements. The changes are as follows: 1. Mandatory Use of National […]

READ MORE

Work Permit Exemptions and Facilitation under the Global Skills Strategy

The Government of Canada has announced the details of the newly implemented Global Skills Strategy (GSS). The GSS is an effort involving two departments that work separately on the admission of foreign nationals to work in Canada, Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). IRCC is offering work permit […]

READ MORE

Changes to Electronic Travel Authorization for Brazilians, Romanians, and Bulgarians.

The Electronic Travel Authorization (ETA) is needed for nationals of most Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) exempt countries prior to eligibility to fly to Canada. Those subject to the TRV requirement would need to apply to a visa office for an entry visa but would not normally be eligible for travel on the basis of an […]

READ MORE

Service Canada may Refuse to Process Certain LMIA Applications in Alberta

Employment and Social Development Canada has announced a list of twenty-nine high wage occupations that have been added to a list of occupations that Service Canada may refuse to process. The occupations, which center around the construction industry, have been selected on the basis of a determination that there is ample labour supply in the […]

READ MORE

Labour Market Impact Assessment Wage Classification Changes

The Government of Canada has announced changes to the regional (province or territory) median wages that will be used to determine application classifications as of April 29 2017. Work in Canada at or above the median wage are subject to applications through the High-Wage Stream, whereas occupations below that figure are subject to the Low-Wage […]

READ MORE

Changes to Express Entry Program

Canada’s Express Entry program is a point-based mechanism for the issuance of invitations to apply for permanent resident status under a number of eligibility programs. With the exception of some Provincial Nominees (including Quebec), foreign nationals in Canada holding temporary work permits would generally be subject to the requirements of Express Entry in order to […]

READ MORE