Blue Bird Blog

Canada expands work permit agreement with the United Kingdom

Today, Canada and the United Kingdom announced the signing of a new Canada-United Kingdom (UK) Youth Mobility Arrangement.

Anticipated to take effect in 2024, the new arrangement includes a number of improvements on the existing youth mobility agreement between the two countries:

- an expansion of the eligibility age to 18-35
- the addition of two new streams for UK nationals moving to Canada
- an increase in the visa period to 3 years

The current agreement is available to those between the ages of 18-30 and the visa period is 2 years.

Initially launched in 2008, the youth mobility agreement aims to promote reciprocal work opportunities in each country.

Youth mobility agreements operate under the Canadian government’s International Experience Canada (IEC) program. IEC offers three categories:

Working Holiday participants are able to receive open work permits that allow them to work for any employer in Canada
International Co-op (internship) participants are able to receive an employer-specific work permit that allows students to gain experience relevant to their studies
Young Professional participants are able to receive an employer-specific work permit to gain targeted work experience relevant to their study or career path

Canada has youth mobility agreements with 37 countries.

In 2023, Canada is offering IEC to almost 90,000 youth around the world. The Canadian government is hoping to alleviate the country’s labour shortages via IEC.

In addition, over 240,000 Canadians have participated in IEC since 2008.

UK youth are well-positioned to transition to Canadian permanent residence after moving to Canada.

Canada is currently seeking to welcome 500,000 new permanent residents annually in 2025. Last year, Canada welcomed over 437,000 new immigrants, an all-time high. The rationale for Canada’s high levels of immigration is to support its economic and fiscal health amid its over 9 million baby boomers entering retirement age over the next decade.

The majority of Canada’s immigrants are welcomed under the economic class.

Immigration in Canada falls under shared federal-provincial jurisdiction. Both levels of government incentivize those with Canadian work experience to transition to permanent residence. This is largely due to Canadian government research showing that domestic work experience supports strong labour market outcomes upon transitioning to permanent residence.

Federal and provincial economic class programs assess candidates based on their human capital criteria such as their age, education, language proficiency, work experience, as well as other criteria such as having Canadian work and/or study experience, and having close family in the country.

Hence, youth from the UK who move to Canada through IEC are well-positioned to transition to permanent residence due to factors such as their young age, fluency in English, and Canadian work experience.

Source: cicnews.com

Work

Visitors no longer allowed to apply for work permits from within Canada

As of August 28, temporary residents in Canada on a visitor visa are no longer permitted to apply for a job-supported work permit from within Canada.
The temporary policy allowing visitors to apply for these work permits was introduced in August 2020 to assist some visitors in Canada who were unable to return home because of border closures related to the COVID-19 pandemic—with the further aim of aiding employers to fill key labour gaps, by allowing some visitors who met certain conditions to apply for an job-supported work permit from inside Canada.

Quebec announces suspension of LMIA processing for some low-wage temporary foreign workers

Starting September 3rd, the processing of Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) to applicants in Montréal will be suspended for job offers with hourly wages below $27.47 CAD (the Quebec median hourly wage). This measure is expected to be in place for the next six months and has been approved by the federal government of Canada.

How long will it take to become a permanent resident of Canada in 2024?

Foreign nationals seeking permanent residence (PR) in Canada often look for the fastest pathway to achieving their goal and starting a new life in this country.
On a basic level, Canada has four primary immigration classes: economic immigration, family-class sponsorship, humanitarian/compassionate immigration and immigration for refugees/protected persons.
However, within those four general classifications, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) provides foreign nationals with more than 100 ways to immigrate to Canada.

Finding a job in Ontario

Recently the Ontario provincial government chose to make it illegal for employers to require Canadian work experience in their job advertisements, in addition to making it mandatory for all job postings to feature salaries.
Both steps represent victories, not just for the Ontario labour force (who will now be able to see how the potential salary of a job compares to provincial and national averages); but especially for newcomers to Ontario—who are often held back from roles and professions they are qualified for, based on their lack of Canadian experience.
Considering these two changes, CIC News has compiled the following guide for newcomers looking for a job in Ontario.

Ontario looking to ban employers from requiring Canadian work experience on application forms and in job postings

In a first-of-its-kind move among all Canadian provinces and territories, Ontario has announced its intention to introduce new legislation that would, if passed, ban employers from requiring “Canadian work experience … in job postings or application forms.”
Announced today, Ontario’s Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development hopes this new legislation will help more newcomers fill in-demand labour shortages across the province.

Canadian federal court denies work permit based on IELTS score

A citizen of Iran was a home design and renovation manager for seven years. In 2022, she signed an employment contract to work as a Residential Home Builder with a construction company located in Vancouver. The job duties and responsibilities included planning and preparing work schedules, selecting and employing trade subcontractors and managing budgets.