Operational Bulletin 555 –October 28, 2013
Summary
Effective October 26, 2013, qualifying foreign nationals could enter Canada via a short-term Work Permit (WP) if they had a:
- Commitment Certificate or,
- Letter of Support issued by a designated entity (where the designated entity supports the applicant’s request for a WP)
Note:
- A designated entity could also be a business incubator
Issue
For time-sensitive commitments, designated entities felt that the three-to-six month processing timeframe was lengthy. On October 26, 2013, the Canadian Government classified business incubators as designated entities. Business incubators normally operate under aggressive timelines. Thus, this classification compounded the issue further.
Background
According to the Economic Action Plan 2012, Citizenship and Immigration Canada created the Start-up Business Class pilot program.
This pilot program aimed at facilitating the processing of PR applications. Its specifications included processing applications:
- With a maximum cap of 2,750 applications each year
- With no more than five individuals per business proposal
- For people intending to reside in any province or territory barring Quebec
- For people having a Commitment Certificate (ComCert) illustrating the support of a Canadian business entity
- For people meeting or exceeding the minimum language proficiency threshold set by the Minister for proficiency in English or French for each of the four language skill areas of:
- Reading
- Writing
- Listening and,
- Speaking
- For people who have completed at least one year of post-secondary education and,
- For people with sufficient funding who can establish themselves economically in Canada
Under these criteria, an applicant must provide evidence of a commitment from a designated entity (i.e. a Letter of Support). Thereafter, the CIC would review the other eligibility factors for the applicant. The CIC would evaluate the applicant against the Ministerial Instructions (MIs) for admissibility and selection.
Eligibility Parameters for a Start-up Business WP
Applicants would be eligible for a Start-up Business WP if they:
- Demonstrate their intent to reside in a province or territory other than Quebec and,
- Provide a ComCert / Letter of Support issued by a designated entity, which states that:
- The WP applicant is ‘essential’ and,
- Urgent business reasons warrant the applicant’s early entry into Canada (i.e. the completion of section 8.0)
The Process for Issuance of the Start-up Business Visa
The Commitment Certificate (ComCert)
- The Case Processing Pilot-Ottawa (CPP-O) would create each designated entity listed in the MIs as an “Organisation” in the Global Case Management System (GCMS)
- All applicants would be associated to the designated entity in the GCMS
- The CPP-O will create a client note for officers in the GCMS on receiving the ComCert
- The CPP-O will add the information from section 8.0 to the note (if applicable and complete)
- This activity indicates:
- The existence of a ComCert and,
- That the CPP-O permits giving a WP application
The Place of Application
- All applicants present a Letter of Support linked to a ComCert issued by a designated entity in the GCMS, when they apply for a WP
- As per Section R198 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, applicants could apply for a WP at the Port of Entry (POE) if they are from:
- Temporary Resident Visa exempt countries or
- Medically exempt countries
- Applicants would need to submit a copy of their Letter of Support which state that:
- The WP applicant is ‘essential’ and,
- Urgent business reasons warrant the applicant’s early entry into Canada
- They would also need to meet the normal admissibility requirements
- Applicants not applying at the POE would need to submit an Application for a Work Permit Made Outside of Canada (IMM 1295)
- This indicates that they are applying for a Start-up Business WP
- The applicants must submit their application at:
- A Visa Application Centre or at,
- The visa office that manages the applicant’s place of residence
Note:
- Spouses of Start-up Business Class WP holders could apply for an open WP (Labour Market Opinion Exemption: C41)
- The generic National Occupational Classification (NOC) Code “8888-000” denotes a high-skilled code in eligible occupations of the NOC Matrix like:
- Skill Type 0
- Skill Level A or
- Skill Level B
Source: CIC
