Visitors can continue applying for work permits inside Canada
Darpan News Desk IANS, 02 Mar, 2023 11:50 AM
Toronto, March 2 (IANS) Foreign nationals who are in Canada as visitors and who receive a valid job offer will be able to apply for and receive a work permit without having to leave the country, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced.
The move, an extension of a Covid-era temporary public policy that was set to expire today, has now been extended by two years, until February 28, 2025.
Visitors applying under this public policy who held a work permit within the last 12 months will also continue to be able to request interim work authorization to begin working for their new employer more quickly.
Prior to this temporary policy change, those applying to work in Canada would typically need to apply for their initial work permit before they came to Canada.
If they were already in Canada with visitor status when they were approved for a work permit, they would need to leave the country to be issued their work permit.
With this policy in place, leaving Canada isn't necessary.
Those looking to benefit from this temporary public policy must have valid status in Canada as a visitor on the day they apply, and have a job offer that is supported by a labour market impact assessment (LMIA) or an LMIA-exempt offer of employment.
An LMIA is an application that an employer makes to Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) to evaluate if hiring foreign workers will have a positive, neutral or negative impact on the Canadian economy.
If ESDC deems the impact is negative, the employer will not be eligible to hire foreign nationals, according to CIC News.
Under the policy, applicants must also submit an application for an employer-specific work permit no later than February 28, 2025.
IRCC said that continuing this policy makes visitors an option for employers in Canada, many of whom are facing significant labour shortages during a period of economic expansion.
There was an overall decrease in the number of vacancies to 848,000 from over one million, according to Statistics Canada data from December 2022.
However, key sectors like healthcare, food and social assistance still need more employees to fill in-demand positions.
The U.S. describes the program, which will allow ordinary Americans to privately sponsor refugees, as the boldest innovation in refugee resettlement in four decades. They also acknowledge that it borrows heavily from Canada, where citizens have been able to privately help resettle refugees since the 1970s.
At a news conference in Toronto, Trudeau says he's asked the clerk of the Privy Council to look at the government's procurement practices to make sure they are getting good value for money. The government mandated the use of the ArriveCan app during the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to screen travellers crossing the border into the country.
The Vancouver-based company also says it plans to pay a special one-time dividend of US$1.08 per share to its own shareholders, contingent on the deal closing. Ritchie Bros. is now offering US$12.80 per share in cash and 0.5252 of a Ritchie Bros. share for each IAA share, making the offer worth about US$44.40 per share based on the company's share price Friday.
Avalanche Canada says the snowmobilers were riding at the base of a slope in a feature known as Bowl 3 in the Oasis area when the avalanche happened Saturday morning. One person managed to ride away while the other was fully buried.
Coquitlam RCMP Front-line officers attended the area of Glen Drive and Johnston Street in Coquitlam for an assault on Sunday, January 1, 2023 at 2:47 a.m. The victim was changing a tire when he was attacked by two men. The men fled prior to Police attendance. nThe victim sustained serious, non-life-threatening injuries to his head.
Documents provided by Yu show the home was listed for $978,000 last May 11, then sold for $970,000 nine days later, near the height of the pandemic property boom. Ontario land title documents show ownership was transferred for that sum on June 15 to a new buyer who took out a mortgage with the Bank of Montreal.
