Open Work Permit Requests from Provincial Nominees Identified Through the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) Backlog Reduction Pilot

Colin R. Singer
September 26, 2014

Operational Bulletin 470 – November 05, 2012

Open Work Permit Requests from Provincial Nominees Identified Through the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) Backlog Reduction Pilot

Summary

The Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) Backlog Reduction Pilot identifies various provincial nominees. This Operational Bulletin (OB) provides information regarding the Work Permit (WP) requests received from these provincial nominees.

This Operational Bulletin (OB) comes into force with immediate effect. In addition, it will remain in effect for the entire duration of the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) Backlog Reduction Pilot.

Background

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) launched the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) Backlog Reduction Pilot in February 2012. It did so in collaboration with provincial and territorial governments. The objective of this pilot was to:

Help provinces and territories (PTs) meet their labour market needs in a better manner, while

Contributing to the backlog reduction efforts for Federal Skilled Workers (FSW) of the CIC

The participating provinces and territories (PTs) in this pilot included:

British Columbia
Alberta
Saskatchewan
Manitoba
Ontario
Nova Scotia
Newfoundland and,
Labrador and Northwest Territories

The participating provinces and territories (PTs) in this pilot, received the opportunity of identifying Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) backlog applicants. On identifying these applicants, the participating provinces and territories (PTs) could consider nominating these applicants under the Provincial Nominee Program. For nominating these applicants, the participating provinces and territories (PTs) would need to consider:

The applicant’s province of intended destination and,
The applicant’s work experience

OB 408 contains more details on the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) Backlog Reduction Pilot. The authorities subsequently enacted the Jobs, Growth and Long-term Prosperity Act during the Budget 2012 implementation. However, the pilot continued to proceed despite the elimination of the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) backlog.

Some participating provinces and territories (PTs) presented certain requests concerning the provincial nominees identified through the pilot based on their work experience. In many cases, these provincial nominees do not possess job offers from Canadian employers. Therefore, the participating provinces and territories (PTs) wanted the authorities to consider these provincial nominees for province-specific open work permits (WPs). Doing so would enable a faster labour market entry, even as the Permanent Resident process gets underway.

This request is consistent with the objectives of the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) Backlog Reduction Pilot i.e.

To test innovative, joint Federal / Provincial / Territories approaches to responding to labour market needs while easing immigration pressures

This request is also within the spirit of authorities under R204 (c), which:

Allow the authorities to issue work permits (WPs) to foreign nationals who,

Intend to perform work following a bilateral agreement between the CIC and a province or territory

The Parameters

Qualifying foreign nationals would need to meet certain eligibility criteria. Readers can go through the criteria specified subsequently in this document.

The authorities would provide a maximum of 1500 province-specific open work permits (WPs). They would issue these work permits (WPs) under the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) Backlog Reduction Pilot. Therefore, the qualifying foreign nationals would need to apply for one of these 1500 province-specific open work permits (WPs). They can do so with immediate effect.

The CIC would monitor the uptake. They would do so via the existing monthly pilot reporting procedures. In addition, the issuance of the province-specific open work permit (WP) does not depend on:

The submission of an application for permanent residence from the nominated applicant

The Procedures

The applicants would need to meet certain eligibility criteria. To qualify for these work permits (WPs), applicants would need to:

Be participants in the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) Backlog Reduction Pilot
Submit a letter of support along with the work permit (WP) application, issued by the nominating province that:

Confirms that the applicant has been nominated under the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) Backlog Reduction Pilot and,
Indicates that the work permit (WP) will only be valid for work in the nominating province

Work Permit Issuance and Extensions

The authorities could issue the following work permits (WPs) to the eligible applicants:

Province –specific work permits (WPs)
Non job-specific open work permits (WPs) or,
Open or restricted work permits (WPs)

The authorities would issue restricted work permits (WPs) based on medical examination restrictions, if applicable

For issuing these work permits (WPs), the authorities would require:

A work permit (WP) application and,
A letter of support from the nominating province or territory (PT)

In addition, the authorities would not require a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) from Service Canada for issuing these work permits (WPs)
An applicant could apply for the work permit (WP):

At a mission
At a Port of Entry or,
In-land

The applicant would need to meet all other admissibility requirements before the authorities issue a work permit (WP) under the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) Backlog Reduction Pilot
The authorities would issue a work permit (WP) under the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) Backlog Reduction Pilot having a validity for a maximum duration of two years
The authorities would not approve extensions beyond the initial two year validity period
This is because work permits (WPs) issued under the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) Backlog Reduction Pilot aim at facilitating faster labour market entry, even as the permanent resident processing is underway

The System Instructions

Officers would need to enter the LMO exemption code as T13
This is in accordance with section R204(c) of the IRPR, which states that this is “an agreement entered into by the Minister with a province or group of provinces under subsection 8(1) of the Act”
The officers would need to use this code on the work permit (WP) issued to the applicant
Officers would need to ensure that the applicant’s work permit only specifies that:

The Province field specifies the nominating province only and,
The printed Conditions specify that this work permit is only valid for work performed in the nominating province

Officers would also need to include the reference “the Federal Skilled Worker (FSW) Backlog Reduction Pilot” in the system notes
This would be useful in matters concerning: