For Employers

For Employers

Employers in Canada may seek to hire foreign nationals for a variety of reasons. Perhaps they are unable to find a Canadian with the required expertise, or they wish to assist a foreign national obtaining permanent residence in Canada. Whatever the cause, Canadian firms can hire foreign nationals through a variety of employment strategies.

To work legally in Canada, all foreign nationals must have the proper permits. There are three ways to gain work permission in Canada: obtain a work permit, qualify for a work permit exemption, or become a Canadian permanent resident. Each of these alternatives has its own set of qualifying conditions and application procedures.
In some cases, an employer may be required to get a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) to support a work permit application or to provide an official job offer to a foreign national to support a permanent residency application. Learn more about the various channels and procedures for hiring foreign nationals to work in Canada by reading on.

Hiring Foreign Skilled Workers

There are three major systems in place to help foreign nationals gain work permission in Canada: Temporary Foreign Worker Program
The Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) is a collection of smaller immigration programmes that allow foreign employees to work in Canada on a temporary basis. Before a foreign national can apply for a work permit under TFWP, the employer must have acquired a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA).

International Mobility Program

The International Mobility Program (IMP) is a collection of smaller programmes that allow foreign nationals to work temporarily in Canada. In contrast to the TFWP, all IMP initiatives do not require a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). IMP includes a number of LMIA-exempt initiatives as well as a number of programmes that allow foreign nationals to obtain open work permits.

Economic Immigration Programs

When a foreign individual achieves Canadian permanent resident status, they gain the legal right to live and work in Canada. In some situations, a Canadian employer may be able to assist a foreign individual in gaining permanent status. This may be achievable if an official job offer is made through one of the permanent residency procedures listed below.
Official job offers made in support of a permanent residency application must, in most situations, be accompanied by a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). However, it is occasionally possible to expedite the processing of LMIA applications filed in support of a permanent residency application through the Global Skills Strategy.