As of August 28, temporary residents in Canada holding a visitor visa can no longer apply for a work permit supported by a job offer from within the country.
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The temporary policy permitting visitors to apply for work permits supported by a job offer from within Canada was introduced in August 2020. This measure was designed to assist visitors who couldn’t return home due to COVID-19 border closures and to help employers address critical labor shortages by allowing certain eligible visitors to apply for these permits while in Canada.
Some visitors in Canada may still apply for other types of work permits from within the country. Additionally, certain applications, such as those for a Bridging Open Work Permit (BOWP), must be submitted while in Canada and cannot be filed from abroad.
Originally, the policy was set to expire on February 28, 2025. However, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has decided to terminate it early as part of their broader efforts to adjust the number of temporary residents in Canada and maintain the integrity of the immigration system.
The IRCC has stated that applications submitted under this policy before August 28 will still be processed.
Crackdown on Misuse
IRCC has indicated that the early termination of the policy is partly due to its discovery that “bad actors” were exploiting it to mislead foreign nationals into working in Canada without proper authorization. This move aligns with the department’s ongoing efforts to tackle widespread immigration fraud and manage the number of temporary residents.
For instance, last year, it was revealed that 700 Indian international students were in Canada on the basis of fraudulent acceptance letters from Designated Learning Institutions (DLIs). Many of these students were unaware that their acceptance letters were not legitimate.
In response to these issues, IRCC now mandates that DLIs verify all acceptance letters within 10 days of receiving an international student application. Additionally, the department has imposed a cap on the number of international students Canada will accept over the next two years
Major Changes to Temporary Foreign Worker Levels in Canada
The discontinuation of the temporary policy allowing certain visitors to apply for work permits comes amid a series of significant changes aimed at reducing the number of temporary foreign workers in Canada.
On August 26th, the Department announced that it will pause the processing of some Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) applications under the Low-Wage stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) by September 26th, 2024. This pause will affect applicants in Census Metropolitan Areas with an unemployment rate of 6% or higher.
Additionally, IRCC introduced restrictions on the number of foreign workers employers in Canada can hire under the TFWP, limiting it to 10% of their total workforce. The maximum term of employment for workers in the Low-Wage stream will also be reduced from two years to one year.
These changes reflect a rollback of pandemic-era policies designed to address labor shortages. During the pandemic, IRCC, in collaboration with Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), allowed employers to hire up to 30% of their workforce through the Low-Wage stream of the TFWP and extended the validity of an LMIA to 12 months.
Last May, IRCC and ESDC began to reverse these temporary policies following a joint press conference with Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault and Immigration Minister Marc Miller. At that press conference, Minister Miller also announced the historic inclusion of temporary resident levels in the annual Immigration Levels Plan, marking a first in Canadian immigration history.
Immigration continues to be a major focus in Canada, with numerous announcements throughout the year addressing the management and reduction of temporary resident levels. This week, Minister Miller also indicated plans to review and potentially adjust permanent residence levels in the coming years.
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