International Mobility Program

In contrast to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, under which work permits may be issued depending on labour market conditions in specific cases, the International Mobility Program serves Canada’s broader economic and cultural interests. This could take one of the following forms:

• Reciprocal youth exchange agreements, such as the International Experience Canada (IEC) program.
• Other international agreements with specific countries, such as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and the Canada–European Union Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (CETA).
• Permitting companies with a branch, subsidiary, or affiliate in Canada to transfer workers under the Intra-Company Transfer program.
• Allowing someone transitioning to permanent residence in Canada to work on a Bridging Open Work Permit.
• Giving international graduates who studied in Canada the opportunity to work on a Post-Graduation Work Permit.
• Situations that bring ‘significant social or cultural benefit to Canada’ (one such example being the Mobilité Francophone initiative).

The above list is by no means exhaustive. In order to assess how Canadian work permit are issued, it is helpful to compare the International Mobility Program, which is effectively a loose collection of work permit streams, with the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, which delivers a more rigid, labour market-oriented assessment of whether a foreign worker may be eligible to work in Canada.

TFWP and IMP: an overview

Employer Portal

Under certain International Mobility Program streams — specifically, for streams requiring a job offer — the employer offering the job offer must do so in the government of Canada’s Employer Portal.

Employers hiring under one of these International Mobility Program streams first create a unique login before selecting the option to submit an offer of employment to a candidate. The employer must provide information about the nature of the business and its size, as well as its main activities. Information about the employment offer itself is also required. This may entail providing minimum requirements for the position, such as education level or language abilities. The employer must also provide information on the wage and benefits being offered.

A $230 employer compliance fee is associated with each offer of employment submitted through the Employer Portal.

Employers hiring workers with an open work permit are not required to submit an offer of employment through the Employer Portal, nor do they have to pay any fee.