In the spring of 2013, Canada's Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration found itself at the center of a scandal related to the reception of a huge number of temporary foreign workers. It started when RBC bank began hiring foreigners while laying off Canadians, which contradicted all known rules. It turned out that the Ministry of Citizenship and Immigration had issued a large number of work permits to foreigners hired for low-paying jobs, while 1.3 million people were unemployed in Canada.
There was a danger that after 2014-2015, when the work permits of foreigners who had received the right to work in Canada expired, many of them would remain in the country illegally. This involved several hundred thousand people. The Canadian press spoke of a time bomb, since something would have to be done about the illegal immigrants in the absence of any clear plans.
The main requirement for Canadian companies inviting foreigners to work is to obtain a permit from the Ministry of Labour and Social Development – the so-called positive Labour Market Opinion (LMO). The changes primarily concern the requirements and procedures for applying for an LMO.
Processing Fee
Previously, Canadian employers did not have to pay for submitting an LMO application. Under the new rules, a fee of 275 Canadian dollars per worker is introduced. For example, if a Canadian company wants to hire three people to work in a restaurant, it will have to pay 875 Canadian dollars for LMO applications. The money is, so to speak, small, so the fee is unlikely to be a problem.
Language Requirements
When applying for an LMO, a Canadian employer may specify only requirements for the applicant regarding English or French. If they require the worker to know another language, they must prove it is essential for the position. Moreover, if a labour ministry official considers that knowledge of a foreign language is not so important for the position, they may refuse the LMO application.
Thus, the Canadian employer loses the traditionally used argument of the need for a foreign worker due to their foreign language skills, since they will have to prove it and the final word remains with the labour ministry official.
Requirements for Advertising Vacancies
One important aspect of submitting an LMO application is placing a job vacancy advertisement in local advertising publications, because the Canadian employer must prove that they could not find any Canadian resident for the open position.
Previously, it was sufficient to advertise the open position for two weeks. Since August 28, the advertisement must be placed for four weeks within three months prior to submitting the LMO application. Moreover, this must be done in at least three publications, such as the National Job Bank website, Workopolis.com, Monster.ca. When advertising vacancies for highly skilled positions, the offered salary must also be stated (this was not required before). Vacancies for low-skilled workers now need to be advertised not only in the specified central publications, but also communicated to groups such as Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, and new immigrants.
Questions about Impact on the Canadian Labour Market
New questions for the Canadian employer have been added to the LMO application form. For example, they need to explain how hiring a foreign worker will affect the Canadian labour market (positively or negatively). In particular, questions are asked: whether hiring a foreign worker will lead to job losses for Canadians due to outsourcing or offshoring practices. Also, the Canadian employer must explain whether they have made attempts in the last two years to hire or retrain Canadians for this position.
The above concerns only formal changes in requirements. Much more serious is another change – the change in attitude of the Canadian government towards issuing such permits. It is no secret that much of the work of officials is determined by various internal guidelines and directives, which in turn are formed from the general approaches that currently prevail in the minds of those responsible for decisions. So, at the current moment, the task is to seriously limit the inflow of foreign workers.
The introduced innovations will undoubtedly complicate the process of hiring foreign workers for Canadian employers. However, the main thing is not that. Since Jason Kenney was effectively personally responsible for the scandal with a record number of work permits issued, and he still has to deal with the difficult situation with foreign workers already in Canada, it is easy to assume that obtaining a work permit in Canada through the usual route will become much more difficult. The situation is made particularly piquant by the fact that the issuance of such permits is under the jurisdiction of the ministry that the same Jason Kenney was recently assigned to head.
Therefore, the most realistic way to get a work permit in Canada is through studying in Canada followed by obtaining an open work permit (post-graduation work permit).
How does it work? According to current rules, persons who have received education at a Canadian educational institution are granted an open work permit (post-graduation work permit) for a period comparable to the duration of study, but not exceeding 3 years. For example, if you studied for 2 years, you will be given an open work permit in Canada for 2 years; if the study lasted 1 year, the permit will be for 1 year. During the validity of the open work permit, an employer can hire you without any restrictions, so in their eyes you will differ little from other Canadians.
After completing your studies, you will have two major advantages over workers from abroad – Canadian education (which implies your preparedness for the job) and the fact that you can start working immediately after the employer decides to hire you, since you are already in the country and have all the necessary permits. After being hired, obtaining the Labour Market Opinion, required to extend the work permit and/or to apply for immigration under the Federal Skilled Worker Class, will be much easier.
The employer, who has invested time and money in your training for specific duties, will be motivated to keep the worker, so they will be much more willing to go through the additional hassle of obtaining the LMO. At the same time, for the Ministry of Labour, issuing an LMO to a person who is already working in Canada will be a more logical step than issuing a work permit to a foreigner in another country, regarding whom there is complete uncertainty about their ability to integrate into Canadian reality.
Therefore, obtaining a work permit in Canada through study is currently the most reliable method. On the contrary, obtaining a work permit in Canada from abroad is becoming a significantly more complex process.
Elena Ryabinina,
«Russian Toronto».