Most people who are not Canadian permanent residents or citizens need to apply for a work permit in order to work in Canada. However, for some types of work and people, a work permit is not required. The line is obscured between what constitutes work (and therefore a work permit is required) and what does not. Whenever in doubt, one should consult an experienced immigration lawyer.<\/p>\n
To apply for a work permit, most foreign workers will need a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA)<\/a>. Unless exempted by law, most prospective employers will need to apply for LMIA with the Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). The company also needs to pay for a compliance fee and send an offer of employment form to CIC.\u00a0 Then you can apply for a work permit.<\/p>\n If you are applying for an open work permit and you do not need an LMIA, you do not need to submit any documents from an employer.\u00a0 With the open work permit, you can virtually work for any Canadian employer unless otherwise prohibited.<\/p>\n When you want to extend your work permit, you need to provide one of the following reasons:<\/p>\n Live-in caregivers work and live in their employers’ home.\u00a0 They take care of the babies, the elder people, or people with disabilities without supervision.\u00a0 In the past, there was only a Live-in caregiver work permit for this job.\u00a0 Now, to work as a live-in caregiver in Canada for the first time, you must apply for a regular work permit. \u00a0Before you apply, your employer has to send an LMIA application to Service Canada.<\/p>\n If you are working as a live-in caregiver and now you are thinking about living out, you will need to apply for a regular work permit.\u00a0 Your current and future employers will send a new LMIA application before you apply.<\/p>\n Nowadays, there are more and more free trade agreements(FTAs) in which Canada is a party.\u00a0 Under these FTAs, business people can come to Canada to do business.\u00a0 Currently, there are 3 categories of agreements that business people may think about:<\/p>\n NAFTA includes three countries: the U.S., Mexico and Canada.\u00a0 If you are a business person from the U.S. or Mexico, you do not need an LMIA to get hired in Canada.\u00a0 There are 4 groups of business people under the NAFTA category:<\/p>\n Canada also signed bilateral FTAs, such as the Canada-Chile FTA, the Canada-Peru FTA, the Canada-Colombia FTA and the Canada-Korea FTA. \u00a0These FTAs resemble the NAFTA and provide an easier way for business people from the respective countries to do business in Canada.<\/p>\n The GATS promotes the flow of trade in services.\u00a0 As a party to this agreement, Canada opened its service market to the now 140+ member countries of the World Trade Organization.\u00a0 However, only 3 groups of business people (in services trade) are covered under GATS: business visitors, professionals and intra-company transferees.\u00a0 Once qualified, these business people do not need an LMIA or a work permit.<\/p>\n Work on campus<\/strong><\/p>\n As a full-time student with a valid study permit, you may be eligible to work on campus if it is clearly stated on your study permit as a condition.\u00a0 This happens to most post-secondary students, both public and some private institutions.\u00a0 As long as you remain a full-time student at your school and your study permit is valid, you can work on campus after you get the Social Insurance Number (SIN) from Service Canada.<\/p>\n In some cases, there is not a condition on your study permit saying that you can legally work on campus.\u00a0 Don’t worry, you can make an request to amend your study permit before applying for SIN.<\/p>\n Work off campus<\/strong><\/p>\n See “Work while you study<\/strong><\/a>” in the “Study Permit” artilce.<\/p>\n Congratulations!\u00a0 Now you have graduated from a college, a university or other post-secondary institutions.\u00a0 What’s next?<\/p>\n If you want to stay in Canada and work here (not immigrate), you must apply for a PGWP.\u00a0 This work permit will give you a chance to accumulate precious Canadian work experience.\u00a0 Depending on the length of your program, the length of your PGWP will differ and it is case-specific (see the table below).<\/p>\n\n
Live-in caregivers<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Business people<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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Students<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Work after graduation: Post Graduate Work Permit (PGWP)<\/strong><\/h4>\n