As of April 2023, the Temporary Foreign Worker Program is moving to online LMIA applications. Consult the LMIA Online Portal Resources page frequently for details and updates.
Get a head start and use the LMIA Online Portal today!
To read more, please click here
Starting January 30, 2023, family members of most foreign workers can apply for an open work permit. A few exceptions may apply to family members of low-skilled workers.
To learn more click here
The Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) Program allows students who have graduated from eligible Canadian designated learning institutions (DLIs) to obtain an open work permit to gain valuable Canadian work experience.
To know more cleck here
Please read this press release from Government of Canada extending work permit application for Canadian visitors for 2 years.
Ottawa, February 28, 2023—Foreign nationals who are in Canada as visitors and who receive a valid job offer will continue to be able to apply for and receive a work permit without having to leave the country. Visitors applying under this public policy who held a work permit within the last 12 months will also continue to be able to request interim work authorization to begin working for their new employer more quickly. Set to expire today, this COVID-era temporary public policy has been extended by 2 years, until February 28, 2025. Leaving this temporary policy in place makes visitors an option for employers in Canada, as many are facing significant labour shortages during this period of economic expansion.
Prior to this temporary policy change, those applying to work in Canada would typically need to apply for their initial work permit before they came to Canada. If they were already in Canada with visitor status when they were approved for a work permit, they would need to leave Canada to be issued their work permit. With this policy in place, leaving Canada isn’t necessary.
To be eligible to apply, an applicant looking to benefit from this temporary public policy must
Applicants who currently have visitor status but who have held a valid work permit in the past 12 months can follow special instructions to get interim work authorization to start working for their new employer before their work permit application is finalized.
If you’re applying for a work permit, and your family members want to come to Canada, they must also apply to visit, or to work or study in Canada. They can apply at the same time as you.. Click here to know more
Temporary Foreign Workers from Guatemala received a total amount of $32,025.13This total includes missing refund cheques dated back as far as 2013.
The problem all have faced is not having a permanent Canadian mailing address where their tax refunds are lost or "returned to sender" once these people return to Guatemala, since the employer chose not to hold on to their mail until their back on the following year.
CCIS staff with the help of community volunteers helped in educating the workers and assisted in connecting with Canada Revenue Agency to do the paper works and coordination.
The Government of Canada announced on December 2, 2022 the extension of work permits to family members of temporary foreign workers. Expanding the eligibility for work permits to family members accompanying the principal applicant to Canada will help address labour shortages by assisting employers in finding the workers they need.
Starting in January 2023, through a temporary 2-year measure, Canada will expand eligibility to work in Canada to spouses and working-age children through a phased approach for workers at all skill levels.
The temporary measure will be implemented in 3 phases to ensure its successful implementation:
There will be no changes to the TFW Program, these changes will only apply to spouses and working-age children of temporary foreign workers.
On September 26, 2022, The Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion Carla Qualtrough and Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC) Sean Fraser announced that new amendments to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (Temporary Foreign Workers) are now in force. These 13 new regulatory amendments include measures to strengthen protections for TFWs and will enhance the integrity of the TFW Program and the International Mobility Program (IMP) to read more:
Alberta’s Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) Advisory Office helps temporary foreign workers, international students (with work authorization) and employers understand their rights and find solutions to situations involving unfair, unsafe or unhealthy working conditions
Temporary Foreign Workers | Alberta.ca
The Alberta Association of Immigrant Serving Agencies (AAISA) and the Calgary Catholic Immigration Society (CCIS) jointly commissioned Pivotal Research Inc. (Pivotal Research) to conduct policy research focused on Temporary Foreign Workers (TFWs) in the Prairie provinces—encompassing the provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan—building on the TFW Prairie Region Project to provide AAISA and CCIS with insights and opportunities to strengthen the TFW-serving ecosystem across the Prairie region.
>> Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) Prairie Region Project
More than a hundred participants took part in the whole day Alberta Filipino Temporary Foreign Workers (TFW) Assembly held on September 24, 2022, at the Kerby Gymnasium in Calgary.
The assembly was a first in terms of inter-agency collaboration between CCIS , Philippine government, Alberta government, and community partners to promote the rights and welfare of temporary foreign workers. The event was organized by CCIS in partnership with the Philippine Consulate General in Calgary, Philippine Overseas Labor Office (POLO), Overseas Workers Welfare Association (OWWA) , and Edmonton-based Catholic Social Services (CSS). The program was opened by Labour Attaché Jainal Rasul, Jr. of POLO, Jessica Juen of CCIS and Consul General Zaldy Patron of the Philippine Consulate General in Calgary.
Organizers and resource persons. (Firsr row , left -right: Edwin Silang, CSS; Neil Nicolas , POLO; Lilia de Guzman , OWWA; Olive Macawili, POLO, Consul General Zaldy Patron, Labor Attache Jainal Rasul Jr., Vice Consul Stephanie Cruz, Imelda CAbansag, OWWA; Second Row L-R: Edwin Chavez, CCIS; Jessica Juen, CCIS; Paul Huismon and Simonette PIli, Government of Alberta;; Zoe Lambert, Workers Resource Centre; Byanca Nimijean , ACT Alberta; and Lawyer Jatin Shory)
Foreign workers and community members from Calgary, Edmonton, High River, Banff, Red Deer and as far as Camrose, were so thankful and happy to learn about their rights and welfare and their specific concerns addressed in the assembly.
In the morning, Calgary Workers’ Resource Center’s Zoe Lambert discussed TFW Rights and Responsibilities . This topic was supplemented by speakers from Alberta’s Ministry of Labour and Immigration , Maggie Godzic of Employment Standards and Simonette Pili of TFW Advisory Office , by providing information about the role of the TFW Advisory Office and pointers on submitting complaints to Employment Standards office and conflict resolution process.
Alberta’s Ministry of Labour and Immigration. Know more about programs and policies to support a diverse workforce, promote safe, fair and healthy workplaces and attract skilled workers
Find out about Alberta’s basic employment standards, what to do if you think they are not being followed, and educational materials to help you better understand them. Know too how to make a complaint.
Changes in hiring agricultural workers in Canada.
Please visit this link to learn more: https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/foreign-workers/agricultural.html
Temporary Foreign Worker in the Prairie Region: Regional Policy Research released by AAISA and CCIS, conducted by Pivotal Research, Inc
The TFW Prairie Region Project presents a case study of an unprecedented regional partnership model with time-limited and pandemic-response-focused funding to support TFWs. The project provided partners the opportunity to either formalize or establish a new line of services dedicated to TFWs centered around workplace safety and public health. This federal support was critical especially in the agricultural and meatpacking sectors most concentrated in the Prairie region that were deemed essential during the pandemic.
Public naming of employers for contraventions and violations under the Canada Labour Code and related regulations. Effective January 12, 2022 and until June 30, 2023, Employment and Social Development Canada will suspend minimum advertising requirements for employers applying for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) to hire temporary foreign workers in primary agriculture.
https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/corporate/portfolio/labour/public-naming-employers-code-regulations.html#h2.3
Guide to Employment Standards in Agriculture
