A Temporary Public Policy extension was recently done by IRCC, allowing the policy to remain active until February 28, 2025. IRCC recently declared that individuals with valid job offers, currently residing in Canada, will be able to acquire work permits.
Temporary Public Policy extension and its eligibility conditions
Individuals who look forward to benefiting from this temporary public policy extension must ensure that they’re eligible for it:
- On the date of application, the candidate must possess a valid status as a Canadian visitor.
- They must either present an LMIA job offer or an employment offer exempt from the LMIA requirement.
- Applicants must submit their employer-specific work permit before February 28, 2025.
- They will require to fulfill all essential admissibility criteria.
A valid employment offer is a written document based on full-time work of at least one year or above, in the case of approved permanent residence. Additionally, the applicant must present a neutral or positive LMIA from ESDC. If not, then the job itself must be LMIA-exempt.
A Labour Market Impact Assessment is an employer-based application to the ESDC. Employment and Social Development Canada will be able to assess the recruitment of foreign workers. This implies that the department will be able to analyze whether the hiring will positively, negatively, or neutrally impact the Canadian economy.
Individuals residing in Canada with a current visitor status but with one-year work permit validity can access special instructions to get temporary work authorization. As a result, this will enable them to begin their work under their new employer before their work permit application reaches its final approval stage.
When this policy change hadn’t occurred, anyone seeking to work in Canada was required to first apply for a valid work permit even before their arrival. Also, a person with a visitor status in Canada had to exit Canada to get a work permit.
Canada’s rising number of employment vacancies
Initially, the pandemic created hurdles for travel, and due to such limitations, people had to cancel their travel plans to Canada. However, this new policy measure attempted to bridge the labor shortage gap. Canada continues reducing this gap by filling more employment vacancies and decreasing the labor shortage. Canada’s unemployment rate is presently at 5 percent, and this is by far the lowest rate of unemployment in Canadian history. This data stands firm as of January 2023.
According to Statistics Canada, the number of job vacancies deteriorated from 1 million to 848,000 over the past year; numerous chief sectors demand a rise in the number of employees to meet the vacancy requirements. For instance, the healthcare and social assistance sectors reflected around 149,800 job vacancies. Next, the accommodation and food services sector had around 108,000 vacancies, while the retail trade had around 108,000 vacancies.
