Work Permits & U.S. Firms’ Employees

Temporary Work Permit

Paper by Hugo Chisholm

The Government of Canada’s Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) states that people who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents (a.k.a. landed immigrants) may NOT work in Canada without a valid work permit. We let in a lot of seasonal agricultural workers and live-in caregivers without such stringent requirements, but we’ll assume you aren’t about to leave the U.S. for good just to pick fruit or become a nanny. So, you’ll need a valid work permit. It only takes a matter of weeks to get this.

Here is the online form for applying for a work permit in Canada.

You may not need a work permit if you fall into certain categories, such as emergency services, clergy, military and many others – click here for a complete list of professions that do not require a work permit.

You can apply for a work permit from the States, or as you enter Canada, or you may even be eligible to apply online once you have already arrived in Canada.

To apply for a work permit from your home in the United States, you must have certain essential documents:

• a job offer from a Canadian employer. This is the big one, presenting the classic migrant dilemma: In order to get a work visa, you need a job offer. In order to get a job offer, you might need a work visa.
• a completed application that shows that you meet the requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
• in most cases, written confirmation from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) that your employer can hire a foreign worker to fill the job (your employer may have to show that no Canadian was qualified for the job. This confirmation is called a positive labour market opinion and in most cases, it’s your new employer’s responsibility to provide you with that written confirmation.

And you must also do the following:

• Satisfy a visa officer that you will leave Canada at the end of your work permit
• Show that you have enough money to support yourself and your family while you are in Canada
• Respect the law and have no criminal record
• Show that you are not a risk to the security of Canada.
• Be in good health. (You may have to have a medical examination.)

Visa by Morgan

You can apply for a work permit as you enter Canada, but only if you are temporary resident visa exempt and your job either does not need a labour market opinion from HRSDC or you do already have a labour market opinion from HRSDC before you enter.

Canadian officials say the number of Americans applying for temporary work visas doubled between 2008 and 2010.

Employees of U.S. Firms

Because of several free trade agreements between the U.S. and Canada, such as the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), you may be able to work here temporarily (generally for a period not exceeding three months to one year, depending on extensions and your specific profession) if you are a permanent employee of a U.S. corporation that carries on business in Canada. This is called being an “intra-company transferee” (which is the rough equivalent of an L-1 Visa in the U.S.) and if offers the quickest and most convenient method by which an American business visitor may temporarily relocate to Canada. But this still puts you outside the Canadian labour market as your primary source of remuneration for the business activity will be outside Canada.

Short-term business visitors should carry an employment letter confirming their continuing employment with the foreign company and indicating the duration, purpose and temporary nature of their visit to Canada. Going back and forth a lot for business over an extended period of time? Request a visitor record (issued by an immigration officer). This document allows entry to Canada on subsequent visits without all the hassle.

One caveat: neither GATS nor NAFTA accommodates spouses of intra-company

transferees who wish to work in Canada. Eligible husbands and wives of senior executives, managers and highly skilled individuals must go through Citizenship and Immigration Canada for work permits.