Most foreign workers to work in Canada on a temporary basis need to obtain a work permit. To obtain a Canadian work permit, also known as a Canadian work visa, foreign nationals must receive a job offer from a Canadian employer. An offer of employment is usually required before the worker may be granted a Temporary Work Permit by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC).
There are four basics steps to apply for a Canadian work visa:
Before a person can apply for a work permit, he/she needs to get a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) from the employer and a job offer. LMIA is a document from Employment and Social Development Canada/Service Canada that gives an employer a permission to legally hire a foreign worker. Furthermore, an employer may need to pay an employer compliance fee and submit an offer of employment form to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada through the Employer Portal.
Work Permits may be issued by Canadian immigration officials without the LMIA requirement in a limited number of situations, as follows:
Once the LMIA is granted, the Canadian employer can provide a temporary job offer to the foreign worker. The employer must send a copy of the positive LMIA along with a detailed job offer letter to the foreign worker.
With an official job offer letter and positive LMIA, the foreign worker can apply to ESDC for a Canadian Temporary Work Permit.
There are different ways to apply for a work permit, depending on where a person decides to apply from:
Anyone may apply for a work permit before they enter Canada. However, certain requirements must be met in order to apply from inside Canada, or as they enter Canada.
A person can only apply for a work permit from inside Canada if he/she:
A person can ask to be allowed to work in Canada as he/she enters Canada only if she/he:
Note: Hiring a foreign national in the province of Quebec, the foreign worker may also need to obtain a Certificat d’acceptation du Québec (CAQ) in order to work temporarily in Quebec. There are specific job categories in Quebec that are ‘facilitated’ and eligible for streamlined processing.
The applicant can pay his/her application fees in a different ways depending on the fee type and where he/she is paying from.
Note: Please note that if a person applies on a paper at a VAC (Visa Application Center), she/she will have to pay additional VAC service fees. These fees are not included in the IRCC application fees.
The Canada Temporary Work Permit will be issued when the foreign worker arrives in Canada, by a Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) officer.
Note 1: Your spouse or common-law partner and your dependent children may apply to come to Canada with you, and, if they wish, apply for a study or work permit.
Note 2: A work permit does not let you live in Canada permanently. To do so, you must qualify under an immigration category as a permanent resident.