Foreign talent welcome under Canada's Global Skills Strategy

The federal government’s new Global Skills Strategy shows Canada is open for business, Toronto immigration lawyer Robin Seligman tells AdvocateDaily.com.

In addition to creating a new stream for the processing of labour market assessments under the Temporary Foreign Workers program, the strategy also makes a string of changes to work permit requirements and processing times for highly skilled applicants.

“I think these are very positive changes, which send a clear message that Canada is open for business and not afraid to bring in foreign talent,” says Seligman, principal of immigration law boutique Seligman Professional Corporation.

“It promotes the idea of immigration as a benefit to the economy rather than a negative. We need internationally talented people — they don’t take away jobs, they create them,” she adds.

Under the new Global Talent Stream, employers referred to Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) by one of its designated referral partners can hire foreign workers with “unique and specialized talent” to help the business grow. Alternatively, companies can hire without a referral as long as the foreign national is highly skilled in one of the occupations listed by ESDC, which includes computer and software engineers, database analysts and web designers.

Rather than participating in the standard Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) process, the stream requires employers to draw up a Labour Market Benefit Plan (LMBP) that makes the case for the lasting positive effect of the hires on the labour market and includes commitments to employ and train Canadian citizens and permanent residents.

The processing time is just 10 business days, but once the program is up and running, employers may need to show that they have kept promises made in earlier LMBPs.

“It’s a great idea to get a pledge from these employers in return for the commitment Canada is making to them,” Seligman says. “I like that it’s not a one-way street.”

The recruitment process will become much less cumbersome for employers by allowing them to bypass the onerous and repetitive requirements of the LMIA every time they want to make a new foreign hire, she says, adding that the approach strikes an appropriate balance between ease of use and compliance.

“I think it’s detailed and restrictive enough that it’s not open to abuse,” Seligman says.

For work permit applications emerging from the new stream, the strategy is targeting two-week processing at all Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada visa offices. The two-week standard will also be applied to applicants of other types of work permits with jobs in the National Occupational Classification (NOC) skill level A and skill type 0.

The new measures also remove work permit requirements altogether for certain foreign nationals on short-term trips. Workers in NOC A and 0 jobs receive a work permit exemption as long as they spend no more than consecutive days in the country in a six-month period (or 30 days or less in a 12-month period), while project-based researchers get up to 120 days in Canada every year permit-free.