Canada today announced a new Recognized Employer Pilot (REP) program, whereby certain employers will benefit from a streamlined process to secure foreign workers through Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs). The LMIA process is one which requires employers to justify the need for hiring foreign workers. Note that this is part of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), and (at least for now), not applicable to the International Mobility Program (IMP – essentially, non-LMIA work permits).
To qualify, the following requirements will need to be met:
- The employer must have a minimum of three positive LMIAs for the same occupation over the prior five years, and
- The occupation must be from a list of occupations that have been designated as ‘in-shortage’, based on information found at https://bit.ly/3qmrbv8.
The program will first be available to employers in the agriculture sector, starting in September 2023, and thereafter to other sectors, starting in January 2024. Applications will be accepted through September 2024, and recognized employers will be able to seek LMIAs for 36-month periods.
NOTE: One major factor which readers should be aware of is that Global Talent Stream occupations will NOT form part of this program, as they already benefit from their own expedited program.
We will of course provide further details of the program to readers as they become available, but this program may of course be very helpful to many employers seeking to hire foreign workers.
The information in this article is for general purposes only, and not intended as legal advice for any situation.