In November and December 2006, Canada’s New Government announced improvements to the Foreign Worker Program. These improvements included the development of Lists of Regional Occupations Under Pressure which cut recruiting time for employers. These lists are currently available in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario and will be announced in other provinces and territories as they become available. In addition a handbook for employers has been developed detailing exactly what steps they must take to hire a foreign worker. The November announcement also highlighted the ongoing work of two federal-provincial working groups in Alberta and B.C.
On February 23, 2007, Canada’s New Government announced four additional changes to the Foreign Worker Program:
* To extend the duration of the Labour Market Opinion (LMO) from up to 12 months, to up to 24 months in length where appropriate. A Labour Market Opinion (LMO) is an assessment of the likely impact a temporary offer of employment will have on the Canadian labour market.
* Effective February 23, 2007 this extension affects those foreign workers working in Canada under the Pilot Project for Occupations Requiring Lower Levels of Formal Training (National Occupational Classification (NOC) C and D categories). The list of jobs requiring less formal training can be found under occupations NOC C and D on the National Occupational Classification website at: http://www23.hrdc-drhc.gc.ca/2001/e/generic/matrix.pdf;
* To enable employers to complete the “Foreign Worker Application (Application for a Labour Market Opinion)" form online as of April 1, 2007 (see attached backgrounder). Employers will be able to access information about applying online by mid-March 2007.
* To extend the duration of the LMO under the Live-in Caregiver Program from 1 year to a maximum of 3 years and 3 months when requested by the employer. Effective February 23, 2007 live-in caregivers will be eligible for work permits for the same time period. Therefore, most live-in caregivers who remain with the same employer will no longer have to apply every year to have their work permits renewed; and
* To expedite the process for employers hiring a foreign worker by allowing work permit applications to be processed at the same time as the application for an LMO, if requested by the worker. Effective February 23, 2007 this concurrent processing of the employer’s LMO and the foreign national’s work permit should reduce the total processing time for these applications.
