Pursuant to Canadian Immigration laws, a foreign national may not engage in employment in Canada unless authorized to do so under Canadian Immigration law. In many but not all instances, a Work Permit is required and will only be issued by a Canadian Immigration officer after Human Resources Development Canada ("HRSDC") approves the employment offer of a prospective Canadian employer to a foreign national. HRSDC considers whether the prospective employer has made reasonable efforts to hire a Canadian for the employment opening and whether or not the wages and working conditions of the employment offered are sufficient to attract and retain a Canadian. HRSDC can also consider other elements that might indicate a benefit for Canada and Canada employment-seekers.
In most instances, once HRSDC has approved an employment offer, it sends the approval to Canadian Immigration officials and the foreign national will be contacted by the Canada Immigration office. He/she may be asked to go to an Immigration interview and/or to undergo an Immigration medical examination at his/her own expense. Canadian Immigration officers must examine whether a person is entering the labour market, rather than just applying the test of whether the foreign national intends to engage in an activity for which he/she might reasonably be expected to receive valuable consideration. If the foreign national meets all Canadian Immigration requirements and has all of the necessary Immigration documents, he/she will receive an Immigration Work Permit. The Immigration Work Permit will state that the foreign national can work in a specific employment capacity for a specific period of time for a specific employer. An Immigration Work Permit will NOT be issued to a foreign national to come to Canada to look for employment. The following categories of employment are exempted from the requirements of obtaining a Work Permit in certain specific situations defined in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, Regulations and immigration manuals:
- Business visitor
- Foreign representatives
- Family members of foreign representatives
- Military personnel
- Foreign government officers
- On-campus employment
- Performing artists
- Athletes and coaches
- News reporters
- Public speakers
- Convention organizers
- Clergy
- Judges and referees
- Examiners and evaluators
- Expert witnesses or investigators
- Healthcare students
- Civil aviation inspector
- Accident or incident inspector
- Crewmembers
- Emergency service providers
For a complete listing of the categories of work that do not require validation from HRSDC, please go to the following link: Common HRSDC Confirmation Exemption Categories. Work Permit holders should ensure that both visitor status as well as the expiry of their Work Permit does not elapse while in Canada, if they are nationals of a non-visa exempt country. In certain cases, spouses of Work Permit holders may qualify to work in Canada without a Labour Market Opinion from HRSDC.