Starting from last Saturday, February 21, 2015, the government has begun to impose new processes and fees for applicants who want to apply for work permits that don’t require a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). Here are some of the main changes:
- Employers who want to hire foreign workers with work permits that are LMIA-exempt and tied to an employer (eg. Intra-company Transferees, NAFTA and other free-trade agreement professionals, some PNP nominees, Significant Benefit) are now required to submit a form outlining the details of the job and pay a fee of $230.
- Employers may be subject to compliance reviews for these workers and must adhere to the terms stated in the form. Non-compliance may mean the inability to hire future foreign workers and heavy fines.
- Persons who are applying for open work permits will be required to pay an additional fee of $100. This will affect people who are applying for post-grad work permits, spousal work permits, bridging work permits, and some PNP work permits.
