Port of entry, work permit issuance, and Health Insurance

[rjcm]

Background
We just got our TRVs. Me and my wife got our Worker Visa (mine via LMO while my wife has an open work permit). My 22 month old toddler got a Visitors permit. My employer is in Calgary however we wanted to land in Toronto first to drop of our stuff. My in-laws are 2 hours drive from Toronto so I plan to leave my wife and kid with them for the time-being while I take a flight to Calgary the following day to meet with my employer. He mentioned that I could be based in Toronto since the project I am assigned to is located there.

First question: Can we enter Canada via Toronto given that my employer is based in Calgary or is it imperative that we make Calgary our port of entry.

Second question: I understand the the work permit is issued at the port of entry. Will they issue a work permit at Toronto if my employer is in Calgary? Is the Work Permit specific only to a province or is it valid in other provinces?

Third question: If we enter via Toronto, can we apply for Ontario Health Insurance or do we need to get Alberta Health Insurance since my employer is in Calgary? If we are to apply for Alberta Health Insurance, does my wife and kid need to go to Calgary with me?

Appreciate the advise. Thanks!

 

[fkl]

I assume you are talking about a closed work permit which is tied to employer, is issued based upon an LMO approved by PROVINCIAL government from Alberta.

If above is correct, you are legally NOT Authorized to work or take health insurance from Ontario. Please be very clear about this.

1) Yes you can technically enter via Toronto. You just might be subject to a bit more questioning, have to show some evidence of why you landed in Toronto and possibly show intention of going to Calgary. It might be a good idea to have address, phone number of both relatives in Toronto and employer in Calgary and be expecting a confirmation call at that time.

2) They would issue work permit at Toronto. And this is the problem with such a situation. The CBSA officer at Toronto said to a friend of mine (who landed in Toronto but was going to work in Quebec) that he would issue him work permit authorized to work across Canada since his LMO was for Quebec. However, he wrote "Toronto" as place of work on wp which was wrong. The employer's lawyer had to apply for correction in work permit and pay 1500 CAD fee plus it took a month to get the correct wp. Hence generally it is recommended to at least land in the same province as you plan to work in. Work permit is strictly tied to province - based upon LMO which states the city and employer name as well. However, i have seen LMO's stating multiple locations (different cities NOT PROVINCES). A lawyer's feedback about this is that usually it is not a big issue if city is different but PROVINCE is same. But it IS a serious issue if province is different. Check your LMO for the city and province.

So basically if you cannot avoid landing in Toronto, keep all possible documentation with you (LMO, Letter of introduction, Offer letter and contract, address of employer and phone number of some one ready to receive a call when you land (at employer) as well as for reference at Toronto. You should be able to prove if needed, that you had contacts in Toronto who you are going to and that is the only reason you landed here.

Secondly, be very clear and CHECK your work permit when issued that it says "Calgary, Alberta" - not Toronto and ask the CBSA officer before hand about this.

3) You can only apply for Alberta health insurance based upon your work permit and provide a proof of residence in Alberta. Moreover, in Ontario health insurance takes 3 months to become effective so you won't want to do that. Alberta covers you from day one. And yes your wife needs to go to Calgary for her health insurance (same as yours) although she can avoid bringing your kid along and just take his passport, visitor record etc along.

Hope that helps

UPDATE:
Your employer is so wrong about you could be based in Toronto IF YOUR LMO was issued for Calgary, Alberta. You can occasionally travel to other sites for work, but your primary place of work should be what it states on the work permit. I suggest they ask legal assistance about the clarity of this. There are further restrictions on health care etc. for e.g. if you are outside of your current province for many days (which you would be if you work from Toronto) your Alberta health care might be in danger.

This is a pressing issue because of abuse by many PR applications. They have PR so they can land and get medical any where. So they land in Alberta (to avoid 3 month waiting for medicals) that exist in Ontario, Quebec and a few more places, but move to other provinces for work. Last time i heard Alberta was using measure to avoid this. Please make sure you do not face any such issues.

 

[PMM]

Hi

Background
We just got our TRVs. Me and my wife got our Worker Visa (mine via LMO while my wife has an open work permit). My 22 month old toddler got a Visitors permit. My employer is in Calgary however we wanted to land in Toronto first to drop of our stuff. My in-laws are 2 hours drive from Toronto so I plan to leave my wife and kid with them for the time-being while I take a flight to Calgary the following day to meet with my employer. He mentioned that I could be based in Toronto since the project I am assigned to is located there.

First question: Can we enter Canada via Toronto given that my employer is based in Calgary or is it imperative that we make Calgary our port of entry.

Second question: I understand the the work permit is issued at the port of entry. Will they issue a work permit at Toronto if my employer is in Calgary? Is the Work Permit specific only to a province or is it valid in other provinces?

Third question: If we enter via Toronto, can we apply for Ontario Health Insurance or do we need to get Alberta Health Insurance since my employer is in Calgary? If we are to apply for Alberta Health Insurance, does my wife and kid need to go to Calgary with me?

Appreciate the advise. Thanks!

1. Yes you can enter at Toronto.
2. Yes, Toronto, 1st Port of Entry.
3. It depends on where you will be residing. If in Ontario, then OHIP (3 months waiting period) If Alberta then Alberta MSP. You have to live in the province where you obtain Provincial Medical, so if the wife and kids are in Ontario, they have to apply for OHIP>

 

[fkl]

Hi


1. Yes you can enter at Toronto.
2. Yes, Toronto, 1st Port of Entry.
3. It depends on where you will be residing. If in Ontario, then OHIP (3 months waiting period) If Alberta then Alberta MSP. You have to live in the province where you obtain Provincial Medical, so if the wife and kids are in Ontario, they have to apply for OHIP>

3 is not exactly true. You can review the Ontario health insurance guide if needed. For a temp worker with closed work permit, if his employment location is not in Ontario he cannot get a health insurance from Ontario right away. Even with an open work permit, you need to live there for a certain number of months to qualify for that. It is different from PR

Update:

"you are a foreign worker who holds a valid work permit or other document issued by Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) permitting you to work in Canada, and you also have a formal agreement in place to work full-time for an employer situated in Ontario which sets out the employer's name, your occupation, and confirmation that you will be working for no less than six consecutive months;"

http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/public/publications/ohip/ohip_eligibility.aspx

P.S. My head office is in Gatineau (Quebec) and a lot of people from there live in Ottawa (Ontario). These are just next to each other. However, a temp worker approved to work in Gatineau would risk not getting health insurance if he tries living in Ottawa. I have witnessed this first hand

 

[PMM]

Hi

3 is not exactly true. You can review the Ontario health insurance guide if needed. For a temp worker with closed work permit, if his employment location is not in Ontario he cannot get a health insurance from Ontario right away. Even with an open work permit, you need to live there for a certain number of months to qualify for that. It is different from PR

The OP said his wife and children may stay in Ontario, and he may be transferred there.

You may be eligible for the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) if you are included under one of the following categories:

you are a foreign worker who holds a work permit valid for at least 6-months which permits you to work in Canada, and you are working under a formal agreement in place to work full-time for an employer situated in Ontario which sets out the employer’s name, your occupation, and states that you will be working for no less than six consecutive months;

 

[fkl]

Hi PMM,

Yep, i highlighted the quoted section "employer situated in Ontario".

Even with an open work permit, they would be reluctant to provide insurance right away.

Seeing his work permit based upon LMO and location from Alberta, forget about it.

"Transfer" cannot happen without getting a new work permit which requires new LMO across provinces.

I have seen this before - because i myself have been considering moving to Ontario (Ottawa) while working for employer based in Gatineau.

 

[rjcm]

Hi PMM and fkl,

Thanks for your inputs. Some follow-up questions:

1) Assuming we take the Calgary port of entry route to avoid complications on the Work Permit issuance and Health Insurance. Can we fly to Toronto without being questioned by airport officials in Toronto and Calgary?

2) Ultimately, we intend to reside in Calgary as per the restrictions on the LMO. However I want my wife and kid to stay with my in-laws in Toronto for a week or two until I find a more permanent residence in Calgary. Do you recommend to book an apartment before coming to Canada or do you think its better to look for a place once we land?

 

[fkl]

Hi PMM and fkl,

Thanks for your inputs. Some follow-up questions:

1) Assuming we take the Calgary port of entry route to avoid complications on the Work Permit issuance and Health Insurance. Can we fly to Toronto without being questioned by airport officials in Toronto and Calgary?

2) Ultimately, we intend to reside in Calgary as per the restrictions on the LMO. However I want my wife and kid to stay with my in-laws in Toronto for a week or two until I find a more permanent residence in Calgary. Do you recommend to book an apartment before coming to Canada or do you think its better to look for a place once we land?

Hi rjcm,

You are most welcome. PMM in general has a lot more knowledge or experience with all this and i also learned many things from him. It might be just this specific area that i had more exposure of.

1. The above restrictions were only for issuing work permits. Once that is done, you are free to travel any where all over Canada or reside in Toronto. No restrictions with that.

The only thing that could be is that with healthcare from Alberta there would be some restriction on number of days in side province to continue using health care and prove that your primary residence is still that province.

2. I would always say, have a temp residence (a relative or friend, if not then a motel or some other "short term rental" which works on daily / weekly max one month basis)
and then LOOK FOR A PLACE IN PERSON. NEVER RENT A PLACE BEFORE SEEING IT YOURSELF.

I can't emphasize this enough. On kijiji or otherwise things look very different from ground reality and lease agreements for housing in Canada are for a year. Meaning if you plan to leave before a year you generally have to find another tenant and transfer the lease. Usually this end up costing one month's additional rent to the person renting.

Hence do your thorough home work before a rental lease and do it in person after landing.