On June 12, 2017 Immigration, Refugees & Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced the introduction of a fast application processing and enhanced customer service now available for companies through the Government of Canada’s new Global Skills Strategy initiative which will give employers a faster and more predictable process for attracting top talent and new skills to Canada by creating economic growth and more middle-class jobs for Canadians.
The new strategy will include four pillars:
- high-skilled workers coming to Canada on a temporary basis – these workers will benefit from two-week processing of applications for work permits (WP) or temporary resident visas (TRV), where applicable; open work permits for spouses and study permits for dependants will also be processed in two weeks, when applicable;
- employers – Canadian employers will benefit from the IRCC new dedicated service channel and the new Global Talent Stream. This will help them access temporary, high-skilled, global talent, scale up or expand their knowledge of specialized skills so that they can be more innovative and build their expertise;
- highly-skilled workers needed for short assignments in Canada – high-skilled workers who need to come to Canada for a very short-term assignment and researchers taking part in short-duration research projects will not require a work permit;
- encourage grow, business initiative and create jobs for Canadians – facilitating a faster entry of top talent with specialized skill sets and global experience to Canada, the government initiative can help innovative companies grow, flourish and create jobs for Canadians.
Quick Facts:
Companies applying for workers through the Global Talent Stream will have access to a new streamlined process that provides eligible employers with:
- priority processing of applications and a client-focused service for the development of the Labour Market Benefits Plan, with a service standard of 10 business days and flexible recruitment requirements;
- two-week work permit processing will be available to workers applying from overseas whose employers have been approved to hire a foreign worker through Global Talent Stream, as well as foreign nationals with jobs at skill type 0 (executive, managerial) or skill level A (professional) of the National Occupational Classification (NOC) applying through the International Mobility Program (IMP). The two-week service standard would also apply to immediate family members accompanying the skilled workers to Canada;
- the WP-exemption for highly-skilled workers applies to all NOC 0 and NOC A workers. Eligible workers will be allowed one 15-day work permit-exempt stay in Canada every six months, or one 30-day work permit-exempt stay every 12 months; Researchers coming to Canada will be permitted one 120-day stay every 12 months without requiring a work permit when they are working on a research project at a publicly-funded degree-granting institution or affiliated research institution.
IRCC states that, agreements have been reached with a range of partners who will be able to refer companies to IRCC’s new dedicated service channel and to ESDC’s Global Talent Stream; discussions are also continuing with other potential partners. The IRCC’s goal is to have referral partners in all parts of Canada with the significant knowledge and insight needed to refer companies to the dedicated service channel.
Source: IRCC Newsletter.
