the CanadaVisa Team - 22 July, 2015
Human Resources and Social Development Canada (ESDC) has announced that the Expedited Labour Market Opinion (E-LMO) pilot project to bring in foreign workers to Alberta and British Columbia, has been expanded for an additional 21 occupations. It will now be much faster for Alberta and BC employers to hire temporary foreign workers for a greater number of occupations.
To hire a temporary foreign worker, Canadian employers must first apply for a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) from ESDC. The LMO is an assessment of the potential impact that hiring a foreign worker would have on the Canadian labour market. For the 33 occupations now covered by the expanded pilot project, it has already been established that employers have not been able staff available positions with Canadian citizens or Permanent Residents; these occupations have been classified as "high demand”. Extensive LMO assessments each time an employer wants to hire a foreign worker in one of the listed occupations are therefore no longer necessary.
"The 33 occupations now included in this pilot represent 50 per cent of the total volume of labour market opinion applications from employers in B.C. and Alberta,” noted Minister of Human Resources and Social Development Canada, Monte Solberg. Whereas the current processing time for LMO applications is five months, for occupations that fall under the E-LMO, applications will be processed within five days.
"We anticipate needing to attract 30,000 workers with specific skills to British Columbia each year to meet our labour and skill shortage challenges,” stated Colin Hansen, BC Minister of Economic Development. "By expanding the numbers of occupations included in this pilot project, more employers will now benefit from having better and faster access to the temporary foreign workers they need." The new E-LMO list goes beyond the original sectors of health care, hospitality, and construction; it now includes more occupations in the construction sector, as well as the manufacturing, engineering, maintenance, sales and services sectors.
The pilot project will run in BC and Alberta until September 2008.
Complete List of Occupations Included in the E-LMO Pilot Project
