Canada’s federal Express Entry system is the most preferred immigration trail among overseas employees; however, it is only open to skilled professions. In this article, we have tried to explain, what is the definition of a skilled occupation, what is a valid employment offer, and how employers can assist their new temporary foreign workers in becoming permanent residents in Canada.
It is important to have an understanding of the National Occupational Code (NOC) and the NOC skill level of the job before hiring any immigrants for a particular job position. Currently, NOC skill levels are classified as 0, A, B, C, and D.
Occupations are categorized into different skill levels on the basis of various factors, such as how much experience, education, and job-specific training is required by the worker to perform all the related tasks. Once the employer has answers to all these questions, this will help to identify the best immigration options for their employees.
The Express Entry system admits candidates with occupations in three of these NOC skill levels:
- NOC skill level 0 representing management jobs
- NOC skill level A represents jobs that need a university degree
- NOC skill level B represents technical jobs and skilled trades, which may need college or apprenticeship training
If an employer is recruiting a foreign worker for an occupation in NOC skill level C or D, then they will have to use an immigration program other than the Express Entry system.
Another important point to note here is that revised NOC skill level classifications will be implemented in late 2022. With the effect of these changes in the NOC skill level classifications, there will be a certain impact on the eligibility of different occupations under various skill levels. However, we have not seen any official information released on which new occupations will be eligible under the Express Entry and which occupations will no longer be eligible in the Express Entry system. In addition, these changes will not create any impact on the immigrant-hiring process.
LMIA requirement for employers
In most cases, Canadian employers are required to demonstrate to the Canadian government that they are not able to find any suitable Canadian to fill the vacant job position, and thus, they are hiring a foreign worker for the respective job position.
So, in order to show this, Canadian employers are required to take a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) from the Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC). For the LMIA, generally, the employers need to fulfill an advertisement requirement, in which they have to post the job on the federal government’s Job Bank and additional two places.
Once the advertisement requirement is met, the employer can then apply for an LMIA. If a decision from ESDC is received on the same, agreeing that no Canadian is available to fill the vacant job position, then a positive LMIA will be provided to the employer.
How an employer can help the employee get Express Entry points
Canadian employers can support their employees in scoring more points under the Express Entry system with the help of a positive LMIA. Though the LMIA benefits a foreign worker to score additional points for their job offer under the Express Entry, it is still not a mandatory requirement. On the other hand, the more points the candidate has, he or she will have more chances to receive an invitation to apply (ITA) for Canadian immigration under the Express Entry system. Also, employees can also make an application on their own without any support from their employers.
If the employee has not already created an Express Entry profile, then they need to begin by checking their eligibility for one of the three federal immigration programs, which are:
- The Federal Skilled Trades ProgramThe Federal Skilled Worker Program
- The Canadian Experience Class
If they meet eligibility for any of the programs, they can submit an online profile with Express Entry. Once the candidate submits the profile, they will be provided with a CRS (Comprehensive Ranking System) score based on their credentials and various factors, including age, education, work experience, job offer, and others. Later, in an Express Entry draw, they may be issued an ITA for permanent residence by the IRCC.
Moreover, employees do not need an employment offer to create an Express Entry profile; however, a valid employment offer can reward them with a few additional CRS points. Candidates are given additional 50 points for a valid employment offer in a NOC skill level 0, A, and B occupation. In addition, if the NOC code starts with 00, candidates can receive 200 points for a job offer in that occupation under the Express Entry system.
For a job offer to be considered valid, it has to be full-time at 30 hours a week and should be for a minimum duration of one year from the date the employee secures their Permanent Residency Visa in Canada.
Without an LMIA, an employee can score points for a job offer only when they hold an employer-specific, LMIA-exempt work permit. This means, if a Canadian employer hired an employee without the LMIA process, as the employee had an open work permit, such as a Post-Graduation Work Permit, then the employer will need to receive an LMIA for their employee to receive the Express Entry points.
Just a quick recap, a Canadian employer needs to do the following in order to recruit an Express Entry candidate with a valid employment offer:
- Secure a positive LMIA, if required, and
- Provide a full-time, LMIA-supported written job offer to the candidate with a validity period for at least one year from the date when the candidate secures Canada’s permanent residency
Who does not require an LMIA?
A Canadian employer does not require an LMIA if:
- They previously got an LMIA when they originally employed the foreign worker, and now, they just want to extend the duration of the job offer for one year so the employee can secure a permanent residency visa;
- The employee has previously worked for the employer for full-time one year (or equivalent part-time), and the employee holds a valid LMIA-exempt work permit due to an international agreement such as CUSMA, or their permit is recognized under the International Mobility Agreement (including a federal-provincial trade agreement) or the work permit is considered to be creating significant benefit for Canadian interests.
To put it differently, the employer is not required to get an LMIA if their situation corresponds to one of the federal government’s work permit exemption codes or LMIA exemption codes.
In case of any confusion, while employing an immigrant from a visa-exempt country, and the employee is residing outside of Canada, the employer may reach out to the International Mobility Workers Unit.
Information that employees should consider
Once the employee has submitted an online Express Entry profile, they have to update the following information:
- Employer’s name and address
- Start Date
- LMIA number
- NOC code
In addition, most temporary foreign workers can continue working in Canada during the processing of their permanent resident applications. However, if their temporary status is going to expire while they are awaiting a decision on their application, then they can apply for a Bridging Open Work Permit; this allows the employees to reside in Canada.
There is a variation in the processing times for different Express Entry applications. The IRCC has a processing standard of six months for Express Entry applications, but the federal department took an average time of nine months to grant permanent residency status to the applicants in the year 2020.
