Short-term work permit exemption

Submitted by jayakiran02 on Sun, 06/18/2017 - 23:05

As of June 12, 2017, high-skilled workers coming to perform work of a short duration may be exempt from the requirement to obtain a work permit.

General criteria

Workers will be eligible for a work permit exemption for work of a short duration under the following conditions:

  • The worker is coming
    • to perform work for 15 consecutive calendar days or less and six months have passed since the first day of work under the previous use of this exemption; or
    • for 30 days or less (16-30 days) and 12 months have passed since the first day of work under the previous use of this exemption.
  • The worker has a job offer for a position within skill level 0 or A of the National Occupational Classification.

Where applicable, officers should document “15-day (or 30-day) work permit exemption” in the case notes. Upon receipt of an application for this exemption, officers should verify in the system whether six months or 12 months (respectively) have passed since the first day of work under the previous exemption. In the event that the officer has concerns over the past use of this exemption, the onus will be on the foreign national to demonstrate that the required amount of time has passed since the first day of work under the previous use of this exemption.

Initial inland applications

The intent of this provision is to facilitate legitimate short-term work of high-skilled individuals coming to Canada. Therefore, applicants already in Canada are not eligible to make an initial application from within Canada for this exemption.

Renewals

Applicants can benefit from this exemption only once within a six-month or 12-month period (as described above). Consecutive uses are not permitted, so renewals of this exemption do not apply.

Applications submitted before June 12, 2017

Work permit applications that meet the above criteria but that were submitted to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada before June 12, 2017, are not eligible for this exemption. This initiative will begin with applications received June 12, 2017, or later.