Canada Work Permit

Canada Work Permit, or a Work Visa is issued to eligible overseas individuals to work in that country for a specific time period. Without a work permit, a foreign national cannot work in Canada.

Two Canadian federal departments are responsible for work permits. If a Labour Market Impact Assessment is required, the department of Employment and Social Development Canada will review the LMIA application and make a decision on whether or not it approves the application. The process of obtaining a work permit is handled by the department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Once an LMIA has been approved, you submit a work permit application to IRCC. If an LMIA is not required, you also apply to IRCC to get a work permit. The work permit provides you with the legal authority to work in Canada for a temporary period of time.

open Work Permit

LMIA Exempt/Open Work Permit

Under this process, the employer doesn’t need Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) to hire foreign workers. This could be employer-specific or open work permits. Spouses of work permit holders and full-time international students, religious workers, workers under international agreements, refugee claimants, and religious workers can apply under this category.

In general, you cannot get an open work permit — open means you are allowed to work “for any employer” in Canada. It doesn’t mean “anyone can get one”.

Open work permits are only available in special circumstances:

  • The Working Holiday visa allows working for any employer; for young people only.
  • An international student with a study permit can work for any employer, but only for 20 hours a week.
  • If you come to Canada on a study permit, and you get permission to bring your spouse, the spouse might be allowed an open work permit.

Those are the most common open work permit situations.

Open work permits allow eligible foreign nationals to work for any employer in Canada. The biggest advantage of holding an open work permit is the freedom to work in the occupation, or for the employer, of your choice.

Work permit exempt:

There are some categories in which if you are coming to Canada for a short visit like as a public speaker, news reporter, clergy, crew member, etc. then you don’t need a work permit.

We hope that this information will be of help to the readers. Give us a call today or fill out our free assessment form. If further assistance is needed, please feel free to contact us.