Foreign nationals now do not have to leave the country and will continue to be able to apply for and receive a work permit if they are in Canada as visitors and receive a valid job offer. Under this public policy, visitors will also continue to be able to request interim work authorization more quickly to begin working for their new employer if they held a work permit within the last 12 months. This temporary public policy formulated during the COVID period by the Canadian government has been extended by 2 years, until February 28, 2025. This extension of the public policy makes visitors an option for employers in Canada, as many employers are facing significant labour shortages for running their business operations sufficiently during this period of economic expansion.
Before this temporary policy change was in effect, foreigners who wanted to work in Canada would only be able to do so by applying for their initial work permit before they came to Canada. This means if they were already in Canada as a visitor then they would need to leave Canada to be issued their work permit. But with this policy in place, leaving Canada is not necessary for people who are in Canada with a visitor status.
For being eligible to apply for the work permit, an applicant looking to benefit from this temporary public policy must
- have to be in Canada with a valid visitor status on the day they apply
- have a genuine job offer that is validated by a labour market impact assessment (LMIA) or an LMIA-exempt offer of employment
- submitted the application for an employer-specific work permit before the expiry date of this public policy, which is February 28, 2025
- meet all other standard admissibility criteria set up by the Canadian government
Before their work permit application is finalized, applicants who are currently living in Canada with a visitor status and also have held a valid work permit in the past 12 months can get interim work authorization to start working for a new employer by following some special instructions.