Operational Bulletin 576 – May 15, 2014
Summary
Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) stopped accepting Arranged Employment Opinions (AEO) on May 04, 2013. Therefore, situations could arise where employers need to hire foreign workers. For example, employers might want to hire foreign workers for a full-time, permanent position. In this case, employers would need to apply for a Labour Market Opinion (LMO). The new ‘permanent duration’ LMO:
- Supports a Permanent Resident (PR) application and,
- Could also form the basis for a Work Permit (WP) application
Background
The authorities introduced certain amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR). These amendments came into effect from May 04, 2013. One of these amendments was that CIC officers stopped accepting Arranged Employment Opinions (AEO) effective May 04, 2013. Therefore, employers, who wanted to hire foreign workers for full-time, permanent positions, had to apply for a Labour Market Opinion (LMO).
In some situations, employers could receive a positive permanent duration LMO. In this case, employers could use this LMO for supporting the foreign nationals’ application to the CIC for:
- A Work Permit (WP) or,
- A Permanent Resident (PR) visa
These amendments came into force on May 04, 2013. Prior to the implementation of these amendments, officers did not assess an AEO against the labour market factors. Section 203 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) outlines these labour market factors. However, because officers never assessed AEOs against labour market factors, employers could not use AEOs for supporting a Work Permit application.
The Processing Instructions
Labour Market Opinion (LMO) Application – Duration Choice
Employers would need to submit their requests for Labour Market Opinions to Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). They could submit these requests for:
- A temporary duration for supporting a Work Permit (WP) application only
- A permanent duration for supporting a Permanent Residence (PR) application only or,
- A combination of both permanent and temporary durations for supporting both a Permanent Residence (PR) and / or a Work Permit (WP) application
The Duration of Work Permits (WP) where the Duration of the LMO is “Indeterminate / Permanent”
Officers would need to check the HRSDC View tab in the GCMS. They would find that the ‘Job Details’ section in the HRSDC View Tab displays a ‘Duration’ field. This field indicates a specific duration or the expression “Indeterminate / Permanent”.
CIC officers would issue Work Permits (WP) for a maximum duration of two years. This is the duration prescribed for Work Permits (WP) supported by a permanent duration LMO. However, before CIC officers issue this work permit, they would need to ensure that the foreign national meets all the requirements. The LMO would contain a list of these requirements that the foreign national must meet.
CIC officers would not extend this Work Permit (WP) for any reasons. This is regardless of whether the Permanent Residence (PR) application is still in process or not.
Source: Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC)
