Employment Reference Letters:
ORIGINAL or CERTIFIED/NOTARIZED COPIES
Letters of reference from your employers constitute a key component of your application for Permanent Residence.
IF YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO PROVIDE A REFERENCE FROM YOUR CURRENT EMPLOYER, PLEASE PROVIDE A WRITTEN EXPLANATION.
As a general rule, reference letters must be issued with a date, signed by a supervisory officer at the place of employment. They MUST be on original company's letterhead, showing the company's full address, contact details, and be stamped with the company's official seal.
Letters from your current and former (if any) employers describing your work experience are a very important part of your application. These letters should be detailed and must show the Canadian Immigration officer that you performed certain work activities for a specific duration in accordance with your skills and qualifications.
The letter(s) should clearly describe the duties and tasks of your particular position.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
• Letters that only indicate position, salary, and a statement that “he was a very good employee and we would hire him again” may not be sufficient! These letters are missing the important details of the applicant's performance while working with the company.
• Employment Reference letters must include the following:
-the specific period of your employment with the company;
-the position(s) you have held during the period of employment and the time spent in each position
-your main responsibilities in each position;
-if possible, your total annual salary
Elements of A Good Employment Letter (Worksheet)
A good job related reference letter gives many details. It lists the projects you worked on, and the achievements you accomplished. Very importantly, it should also describe your day-to-day duties and tasks. These daily tasks may seem mundane, but they often demonstrate that you perform the duties of a certain position, and that you possess the required basic skills. It is important that the letter demonstrates that you know the basic skills of your position, and that you have already been trained in them.
We are aware that a strong reference letter is sometimes not easy to obtain.
At a minimum, the letter should state your position, the length of your employment, salary, and a summary of your duties.
Employment Letter Problems?
• Sometimes people are reluctant to ask their employer for such letters, for fear that the employer will become suspicious of them. If this is the case, then you may ask colleagues or even reputable well-known customers you have worked with to write an employment letter for you.
• Letters from colleagues must be notarized, and should state that he/she has worked with you, and witnessed you performing certain duties. Letters from clients do not need to be notarized if they are printed on the client's official letterhead.
• In those cases where employment letters are not available, or where letters from colleagues or clients are substituting, as many of the following additional documents should be provided to our office as possible:
• tax documents
• pay slips
• performance appraisals
• contracts,
• promotion letters or letters of appointment
• previous immigration documents (such as H1 Visa applications from the USA)
• letters sometimes provided by employers for banking purposes, in which the letter confirms your position and salary; this kind of letter may be available from your Personnel/Human Resources Department.
Please note that these substitutes may be provided, even in the case that you are able to obtain a good employment letter as detailed above. Providing us with such documents can help us to better demonstrate credibility of your employment history, which may facilitate your application, or the chance of an interview waiver.
Generally a reference letter is written as follows:
[Company Letter Head]
[Date]
To whom it may concern,
[Applicant] has been employed by [employer] from [start date] to [end date], in the position of [position or job title]. His/her monthly/annual salary was [salary]
In this position, he/she had the following duties and responsibilities:
[list of duties and responsibilities]
Additionally, [any additional information]
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you require any more information
Sincerely,
[Name of supervisor]
[Signature of supervisor]
[Business card of supervisor attached if possible]
The description, duties and responsibilities on the letter should closely resemble, but not be an exact copy of, those expected of an employee working in your NOC code.
If your company will not issue such a letter, you should take every step to obtain official documentation from the company listing your job duties and responsibilities. As well, these other alternatives may be used, however they may not always work. It is always better to obtain an original letter of reference directly from a supervisor or HR.
