CANADA - Substantial Amendments of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act Regulations Pertaining to Foreign Worker Programs
- Canada
- 10/15/2009
On Friday, October 9, 2009, the Canadian government announced it would be amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act regulations pertaining to foreign worker programs.
Proposed changes include:
- A four-year limit on the period of time that a foreign national may work in Canada pursuant to Labor Market Opinions and the Information Technology Worker Program, among others. A list of the categories of workers affected will be published as soon as the information is available. This rule will not affect workers who have been granted work permits pursuant to international agreements and, therefore, will not apply to intra-company transferees or professionals working under NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) and GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services).
- After the four-year limit has been reached, affected workers must wait six years before they may obtain another Canadian work permit.
- The regulations will make an employer ineligible to access Canada’s temporary foreign worker programs for a period of two years if the employer (or its recruiter) has previously been found in violation of the terms of a work permit by providing wages and working conditions, or requiring occupational duties, significantly different from those in the approved terms of the work permit for employment of a temporary foreign worker.
- The eligibility assessment of the employer will be undertaken at the time of a new Labor Market Opinion request or work permit application, and the assessment will take into consideration any employment of temporary foreign workers in the two years preceding the application or request.
- The names, addresses and period of ineligibility of employers who are prohibited from accessing Canada’s temporary foreign worker programs for the reasons noted above will be published on Canada’s Citizenship and Immigration public website.
These regulatory amendments will be applied prospectively; that is, they will apply only to work permit applications received by Canadian Immigration authorities on or after the date on which the amended regulations come into force.
Further information can be located at: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/department/media/releases/2009/2009-10-09a.asp.
