As of December 23, 2024 | Ottawa | Canada Border Services Agency

As announced by the Government of Canada as part of Canada’s Border Plan, work and study permits will no longer be provided to flagpolers at a port of entry, effective December 23 at 11:59 pm ET.

Flagpoling occurs when foreign nationals who hold temporary resident status in Canada, leave Canada and, after a visit to the United States or St. Pierre and Miquelon, re-enter to access immigration services at a port of entry.

This practice has taken up significant resources at the border, diverting Canadian and American officers away from important enforcement activities and has contributed to wait times for cross-border travellers.

Immigration services at the border are meant for individuals arriving in Canada, not for those already in Canada. Applications and renewals for work or study permits need to be submitted through Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). Those who attempt to flagpole for a work and study permit will be told to submit their application to IRCC unless they meet limited exemptions.

These changes benefit Canada and the U.S. by allowing both countries to effectively manage border operations and maintain the integrity of our shared border.

As of September 23, 2024 | Alberta Advantage Immigration Program

Candidates must submit a Worker Expression of Interest (EOI) if they are interested in receiving an invitation to apply to one of the Alberta Advantage Immigration Program’s (AAIP’s) worker streams.

There is no fee to submit a Worker EOI.

Candidates will self-declare information about themselves through an online Worker EOI form in the AAIP portal. Each Worker EOI will be scored and ranked using the Worker EOI points grid. Candidates who successfully submit a Worker EOI will be placed into the Worker Stream pool to be considered for selection.

The AAIP will conduct ongoing draws from the Worker Stream pool for specific worker streams and pathways. The AAIP will select and invite candidates from the Worker Stream pool based on candidate EOI score rankings and provincial labour market needs and priorities, available AAIP nominations, and application levels. Individuals who are selected will receive an invitation to apply by email.

It is important to note that while the new system will be available on September 30, 2024 at 10 am, there is no need to rush to submit a Worker EOI as the AAIP will not conduct draws from the Worker Stream pool until mid or late October 2024.

AAIP encourage you to take the following steps to prepare to submit a Worker EOI:

• Confirm you meet eligibility requirements for one or more AAIP worker streams.
• Review the Worker EOI points grid to understand the type of information we will be collecting in the Worker EOI and how points are awarded.
• Consider your existing AAIP applications or Entrepreneur EOIs.
  
  • You can only have one Worker EOI.
  • You cannot create a Worker EOI if you have an existing Worker EOI or Entrepreneur EOI or a draft or active AAIP application. Existing applications or EOIs must be withdrawn prior to creating a Worker EOI.
• Make sure you have a valid, basic Alberta.ca Account. You may use an existing basic or verified Alberta.ca Account.

As of August 28, 2024 | Ottawa | Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC)

Canada ends temporary public policy allowing visitors to apply for work permits from within the country

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has ended a temporary public policy that allowed visitors to apply for a work permit from within Canada, effective immediately.

IRCC introduced the policy in August 2020 to help visitors who were unable to leave the country due to COVID-19 pandemic–related travel restrictions. Under the policy, visitors in Canada could apply for a work permit without having to leave the country. In addition, foreign nationals who had held a work permit in the previous 12 months but who changed their status in Canada to “visitor” could apply to work legally in Canada while waiting for a decision on their new work permit application.

While the temporary policy was set to expire on February 28, 2025, IRCC is ending the policy as part of our overall efforts to recalibrate the number of temporary residents in Canada and preserve the integrity of the immigration system. IRCC is also aware that some bad actors were using the policy to mislead foreign nationals into working in Canada without authorization.

IRCC will continue to process applications submitted before August 28, 2024 under the policy.

As of August 27, 2024 | Gatineau, Quebec | Employment and Social Development Canada

Starting September 26, 2024, certain LMIA applications submitted for the low-wage stream will be affected by the following tightening measures:

• Certain LMIA applications for low-wage positions in census metropolitan areas with an unemployment rate of 6% or higher won't be processed
• The current 20% cap on the proportion of low-wage positions is being reduced to 10%
• The maximum employment duration for low-wage positions is being reduced from 2 years to 1 year

Further updates related to these measures will be made to our pages in the coming weeks.

As of August 27, 2024 | Ottawa | Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Trudeau announces reduction in temporary foreign workers, suggests more immigration changes to come

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced reductions to the temporary foreign worker program Monday, but there are many exceptions to the clampdown that could still see thousands of people brought to Canada for short-term work.

Trudeau said the program needs to be reined in as the country’s unemployment rate rises.

“We no longer need as many temporary foreign workers. We need Canadian businesses to invest in training and technology and not increase their reliance on low-cost foreign labour,” he said at the start of a three-day cabinet retreat in Halifax.

The Liberals’ new rules will restrict some low-wage employers from using the program, but data reviewed nearly 27,000 high-wage jobs that won’t be restricted were recently approved.

At the end of the pandemic in 2022, the Liberals eased some of the restrictions on the program because at the time labour shortages were common. The Liberal government removed a rule that prevented workers from applying to bring in temporary foreign workers if local unemployment was higher than six percent.

The government also removed a rule about the percentage of a company’s workforce that could be temporary foreign workers and allowed temporary foreign workers to stay longer.

Beginning next month, those relaxed rules will change back; the six percent rule will go into force preventing companies from using TFWs in areas of high unemployment. And right across the country, workers will be limited to a one-year stay and companies won’t be able to use TFWs for more than 10 percent of their workforce.

Trudeau said easing restrictions on the program made sense in 2022, but things have changed.

“That’s what the business community needed. That’s what the business community was asking for and at that moment in time, those changes helped. They helped the economy and they helped businesses make it through a challenging moment in our economic recovery.”