As readers of ImmPulse™ will be aware, the United Kingdom ended its participation in the European Union last year, and as such, its citizens were no longer eligible for preferential treatment under the Canada-European Union Free Trade Agreement (CETA). For a brief period starting January 1, 2021, UK citizens who did not meet the requirements for any non-Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) work permit outside the CETA framework, could only work in Canada if their employer secured an LMIA. (LMIAs typically require employers to show that they could not find suitable Canadians for a position. Non-LMIA work permits are also referred to as being part of the International Mobility Program [IMP]. Other non-CETA IMP possible work permits may include, e.g., Francophone Mobility, Intra-Company Transfer.)
Now, Canada has implanted the ‘Agreement on Trade Continuity between Canada and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland’ (CUKTCA). Pursuant to this free trade agreement, immigration provisions essentially replicating those of CETA have been implemented, and UK citizens can secure certain non-LMIA work permits as they may have been able to secure under CETA.
Though CETA and the CUKTCA both have some work permit categories that may be attainable through other legal sources – for example, intra-company transfers under general immigration regulations – this re-establishment of free trade-based immigration provisions for UK citizens reopens certain opportunities that would not otherwise be available. Perhaps most notably of these provisions is that of Professionals in the forms of contractual service suppliers and independent professionals. The provisions also allow for work permits for Engineering and scientific technologists who meet relevant criteria regarding education and work experience.
Besides the professionals categories, provisions for Business Visitors, as well as Investors, as existed under CETA, are preserved under the CUKTCA.
Note that UK workers already in Canada who had secured CETA-based work permits may seek a further work permit under CUKTCA, assuming, of course, that they meet relevant criteria.
Readers may wish to reference our prior issue of Immpulse™, found at https://bit.ly/3fpLZtm, regarding CETA rules (which now apply to the CUKTCA), as well as other updates on the topic found at our archives at http://www.kranclaw.com/immpulse-alerts/.
The information in this article is for general purposes only, and not intended as legal advice for any particular situation.