Canada Immigration Changes: No More Visitor to Work Permit Visa – IRCC New Update

The ability to apply from within Canada for a job-supported work permit has been discontinued as of August 28 for temporary residents in Canada on a guest visa.

The temporary policy that permits visitors to apply for these work permits was implemented in August 2020 to help some visitors to Canada who were unable to leave due to border closures associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, by permitting certain visitors who meet specific requirements to apply for a job-supported work permit from within Canada, the policy also aims to help employers fill critical labor shortages.

It should be noted that certain foreign visitors may still apply domestically for other types of work permits. Certain applications, such as those for a Bridging Open Work Permit (BOWP), are also restricted from being submitted from outside of Canada and must be submitted from within the nation.

The policy’s original expiration date was scheduled for February 28, 2025. However, as “part of our overall efforts to recalibrate the number of temporary residents in Canada and preserve the integrity of the immigration system,” Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said it is eliminating the policy immediately.

Applications filed following the rules before August 28 will still be processed, according to the Department.

Suppression of Maladaptive Behavior

The IRCC claims that knowledge that “bad actors were using the policy to mislead foreign nationals into working in Canada without authorization” is a contributing factor in the early rollback. This is related to the department’s continuous initiatives to lower the number of temporary residents and fight pervasive immigration fraud.

For instance, it was discovered that 700 Indian overseas students were enrolled in Canadian universities last year as a result of forged admission letters from DLIs. A large number of them had no idea that their letters were fake.

As a result, the IRCC now mandates that DLIs confirm each acceptance letter within ten days of receiving an application from an overseas student. Additionally, it has capped the total number of foreign students Canada will take in during the following two years.

Significant Adjustments to Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Thresholds

A week of significant adjustments intended to lower Canada’s numbers of temporary foreign workers coincided with the expiration of the temporary policy permitting certain tourists to apply for a work permit.

By September 26, 2024, the Department of Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) will no longer be reviewing applications for certain applicants under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) Low-Wage stream. This announcement was made on August 26. Applicants in Census Metropolitan Areas where the unemployment rate is six percent or greater will be impacted by this.

Additionally, the IRCC indicated that the maximum period of employment for workers in the Low-Wage stream would be lowered from two years to one year and that firms in Canada would only be able to hire up to 10% of foreign workers under the TFWP.

Similar to today’s announcement, many of the aforementioned adjustments are reversals of immigration rules that were put in place during the pandemic by the Canadian government to address the country’s labor shortage.

For instance, during the pandemic, the IRCC and Employment Social Development Canada (ESDC) together implemented interim measures that extended the validity of an LMIA to 12 months and permitted Canadian workers to hire up to 30% of their staff under the TFWP’s Low-Wage stream.

Following a joint press announcement by Immigration Minister Marc Miller and Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault last May, IRCC and ESDC started to rescind these pandemic-era restrictions.

Minister Miller made the historic announcement at the same press conference that the annual Immigration Levels Plan would now include temporary resident levels, a first in Canadian immigration history.

In Canada, immigration has emerged as a major issue. Much of this year has seen declarations about controlling and lowering the number of temporary immigrants living there. Minister Miller also declared this week that he intends to think about adjusting the number of permanent residents in Canada in the upcoming years.