In February of this year, Citizenship and Immigration Canada introduced a procedure whereby employers were required to submit, in advance of the filing of any non-LMIA work permit application, ’employer compliance’ documentation. This is carried out by way of submission of the ‘IMM5802’ form, which sets out information necessary to establish the legal basis for the LMIA exemption request. Employers also needed to start paying a fee or $230.
Now, further changes are in store with regard to this requirement.
[LMIAs are ‘Labour Market Impact Assessments’, a procedure whereby foreign workers can be recruited only after an employer carries out substantial recruitment activity, and files an application for approval. Non-LMIA work permits include intra-company transferees, NAFTA or other professionals, and all further types of applications where no evidence of recruitment in Canada is necessary.]Effective October 26, the current system of submitting the IMM5802 via a specified email address will become obsolete. Rather, employers will need to log in to a new ‘Employer Portal’ (which is as yet unavailable), and carry out necessary activity there. As a bridging measure, IMM5802s will still be accepted with work permit applications submitted up to Nov. 20, 2015, but thereafter, only the employer portal method will be available. Where an IMM5802 was filed on or prior to Nov. 20, but the application is being made on November 21 or later, the employer will need to resubmit via the portal.
To date, no specifics have been provided with regard to the Employer Portal, vis-à-vis access, functionality, requirements for use, or otherwise. Certainly, we will apprise readers once information becomes available. In the interim, employers who are aware that employees will be seeking work permits on or after November 21, should be aware that they will need to utilize the new system, and that the IMM5802 form will no longer be accepted.
The information in this article is for general purposes only, and not intended as legal advice for any particular situation.