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 suspect who police thought they were arresting was considered armed and dangerous, and potentially in possession of a firearm, so the department's emergency response team was deployed. Police say during the arrest officers shot the man with two rubber bullets.
The request comes in a letter signed by 75 non-governmental organizations, including the Canadian chapters of groups such as Oxfam, Save the Children, Unicef and World Vision. They're asking Freeland to increase international aid funding from the $8.15 billion pledged in the last budget and to gradually ramp that figure up to $10 billion by 2025.
The two Nelson residents, aged 68 and 79, were in the back seat of the Toyota and died at the scene. Police say the driver and front-seat passenger were taken to hospital while the driver of the pickup truck was not badly hurt.
The agency says more prohibited weapons were also found at a Chilliwack home the day after the arrest. It says the list of weapons included 13 conducted energy weapons, better known as Tasers, 360 stun guns, 171 stun batons and hundreds of prohibited knives and brass knuckles.
Premier David Eby's government has been spending what was projected as an almost $6-billion surplus from last year’s budget on pressing issues like disaster mitigation, addiction treatment and cost-of-living supports.
Students who weren't able to take the day off were bused to a local middle school. Conservation officers tried to get the raccoon to leave but it climbed up into the space above the ceiling tiles.
