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Temporary Employment Authorization

Only Canadian citizens and legal permanent residents of Canada have the right to work in Canada. However, Canada's policy on foreign workers permits employers to recruit foreigners needed for the Canadian labour market. A foreign worker may obtain temporary employment authorization only if this employment does not adversely affect employment or training opportunities for Canadians.

Every person, other than a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, who seeks to come into Canada for the purpose of engaging in employment shall obtain employment authorization. "Employment" means any activity for which a person receives or might reasonably be expected to receive valuable consideration.

The process of obtaining an employment authorization requires two steps:

Submitting an application for validation of an offer of employment to a Canadian Employment Center;
Submission of an application for the necessary visa to a Canadian Visa Post.

The Human Resource Development Canada is responsible for the validation of the potential position and will consider only the factors related to the specific job. Although validation is not necessarily a requirement by law, it is the most common way to verify that the Canadian job market will not be adversely affected by the introduction of a foreign worker. This process is completed within Canada, and demands considerable effort on the part of the prospective employer. The time requirement for the process is generally approximately 4 6 weeks.

Human Resource Development Canada's foreign worker employment policy recognizes the social and economic needs of Canada. The policy endeavors to maximize employment opportunities for Canadian citizens and permanent residents and enhance the employer's ability to meet current and projected human resource requirements. Validation only occurs when avenues in Canada are explored or if there are likely to be benefit to Canada.

After consulting with the employer, the HRCC provides an opinion to the visa or immigration officer on the efforts made by the employer to hire or train Canadian workers, on the duties to be performed, on the qualifications required of the foreign worker, and on the wages and working conditions offered. This opinion is formed by HRCC based on an assessment of several criteria, including:

whether the employer has made reasonable efforts to hire or train Canadian citizens or permanent residents for the employment with respect to which the authorization is sought; or
in situations where there may be Canadians who could be trained or available for the employment, whether the employer has nonetheless demonstrated that the employment of the person will help create or maintain employment benefits or opportunities for Canadians, and
that the wages and working conditions offered are sufficient to attract and retain Canadians in the employment in question;
that the employment of the foreign worker will not affect the settlement of any labour dispute that is in progress at the intended place of employment, or the employment of any person who is involved in such a dispute;
that the employment offered by the prospective employer is bona fide, and not designed to be inaccessible to Canadian citizens and permanent residents.

Once a job has been validated by a Human Resources Development Canada the "confirmation of the offer of employment" will be sent to the relevant Canadian visa post. Once the Canadian visa office receives the confirmation of the offer of employment, they will contact the worker. A worker may be invited for an interview and a medical examination. Upon completion all necessary procedures a visa office will issue an employment authorization. The employment authorization will state that a worker may work at a specific job for a specific period of time for a specific employer.

Regulation 19(1) allows certain persons to be employment authorization exempt. These individuals may enter Canada to work, or to carry on business or trade related activities without the need to hold an employment authorization. These persons enter Canada to take up duties which are not related to the labour market, and they would enter regardless of the state of the economy or employment picture. They generally have occupations where international freedom of movement is deemed to be crucial, or they may represent a foreign company or organization which is not considered to compete with Canadian workers. The reasons that motivate their admission are either political, religious and/or trade/oriented.