Information on work permits in Canada

June 8, 2007 5:17 PM

My american fiance has potentially been offered a job in Canada... we've been reading that a labour market opinion is required in order to offer him a job, as we are trying to get all the legwork out of the way. We have found the websites necessary, and all the forms, but I'm looking for any personal anecdotes from any MeFites out there who may have had to do a similar thing - looking specifically for potential processing times, etc.

In addition, we've been informed that once the labour market opinion is complete, he can simply go to a port of entry with a letter from the employer and the LMO, and he will be processed for a work permit. As information on some government websites tend to be a little hard to locate, and decipher, we're hoping someone has gone through a similar procedure and can confirm/deny the information we've managed to gather.

Thanks in advance, email is in profile if any more info is needed.

posted by irishkitten to Law & Government (3 answers total)

If your fiance is American, he might be able to skip the labour market opinion if the job falls under a NAFTA professional category. If so, then all he'd have to do is bring all the necessary paperwork (including but not limited to the job offer, credentials, copy of diploma, etc.) to the border and get the work permit processed. If not, then yes, the LMO will be necessary. Not sure how long it takes these days, but back when I was looking into such things, it was mentioned to me that the process of getting the LMO is usually done by the employer.
posted by greatgefilte at 8:22 PM on June 8, 2007

I worked for Immigration Canada many years ago and had to write the Hiring a Foreign Worker Guide. Things have eased up since NAFTA came into effect. You might want to take a look at the Hiring a Foreign Worker guide on the Immigration site. Some jobs are exempt from LMOs.
posted by acoutu at 9:51 PM on June 8, 2007

I skipped the LMO. Work permit took about 10 weeks to come through. That was eight years ago though.
posted by Umhlangan at 8:31 AM on June 9, 2007