USA Citizen working as a consultant on IEC Work Permit Questions

[Buggg]

Hey all - I have an odd situation shaping up and I'm hoping for any advice or guidance! Please advise if I have posted this in the wrong section.

• USA citizen - 31 years old
• I am currently in Ontario, Canada living with my girlfriend (Since Dec 4th, 2018)
• I have submitted my IEC Work Permit application on Jan 20th, 2019 (expected wait time was 2-8 weeks, so the *latest* date I would expect it would be around March 20th, 2019)
• I have just landed a job with a European company as a consultant with a start date of Feb 20th, 2019
• All work will be fully remote
• I will be aiming for a second year on the work permit in 2020 or filing the common-law sponsorship in late 2019 to try to acquire PR

I did not think I had a high enough score to qualify for Express Entry, so I pursued the route of 12-month open work permit. Assuming there are no issues with acquiring the work permit, this would leave me as an American citizen, working in Canada, for a European company. (If my permit does not come in before my listed start date, I will go back to the United States until the permit arrives).

My main questions are:

• Does this situation seem like it would be allowed?
• If I am working remotely, is the work permit still required?
• I will be a consultant - responsible for all of my own taxes, etc - does this mean I will be considered self-employed?
• Will Canada prefer I am paid in CAD?

I know this is a ton of information - thanks for any advice!