Do you want to come to Canada as a digital nomad?
In June, Canada announced the launch of the Tech Talent Strategy. Part of the strategy was to promote Canada as a destination for digital nomads. A digital nomad is a person who can perform their job remotely from anywhere in the world.
Under current Canadian immigration rules, a digital nomad only needs visitor status to relocate to Canada for up to six months at a time while they perform their job remotely for a foreign employer.
Canadian Significant Benefit Work Permits: How can I get one?
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) officials must consider the possible impacts on Canadian workers before granting foreign workers a permit. Therefore, a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) is often mandatory.
However, if a 'significant benefit' exemption is recognised, the need for an LMIA can be bypassed—specifically if the advantages gained from granting a work permit greatly surpass the possible negative effects of not admitting the foreign worker or delaying their entry to Canada. In such scenarios, even in the absence of an LMIA, other factors can allow a foreign worker to obtain a Significant Benefit Work Permit (SBWP)—an LMIA-exempt work permit that aims to have a much faster processing time.
Low unemployment and high participation rate indicate persistent job vacancies in Canada
Statistics Canada’s latest Labour Force Survey reveals signs of healthy employment, as the country’s economy continues to normalise after the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the latest report covering September of 2023, Canada’s unemployment rate—the number of unemployed individuals in the country over the age of 15, divided by the country’s total labour force (population aged 15 and older)—was stable at 5.5%, seeing little change from the start of the year.
Can I continue working even if my Canadian work permit expires?
Many Canadian work permit holders will, at some point, look to extend or change their permit to continue being employed in Canada.
If you are a foreign national in this position, it is important to understand that your ability to continue working after your permit expires depends on when you applied for a permit extension/change.
More specifically, only temporary workers who applied for a work permit extension/change prior to the conclusion of their original permit are eligible to continue working after their first permit expires*.
Canada’s non-permanent resident population is 2.2 million people
Statistics Canada has just released a major report that changes how it counts Canada’s non-permanent residents (NPRs).
According to the latest population estimate, NPRs account for 2,198,679 people in Canada. A difference of over one million from Census 2021.
The report is significant because Statistics Canada acknowledges that it previously undercounted the country’s NPR population. The revised methodology has significant implications for Canadian public policy in a variety of areas, including immigration, economic and labour market planning and housing, among other important areas.
