As Canada recovers from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses, jobs are coming back in a big way in Canada and creating more opportunities for economic immigration to the country.
“Canadian employment rose a strong 240,000 in the fourth quarter of 2021, from September to December, leaving total jobs now more than one per cent above pre-COVID levels, and up 4.8 per cent from a year ago,” notes Band of Montreal senior economist Robert Kavcic.
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In his latest Regional Labour Market Report Card: Job Recovery Broadens, the BMO’s director of economics reports that Canada’s jobless rate closed off the year at 5.9 per cent.
Ontario Top Province For Job Recovery, Guelph Top City
“Regionally, seven of 10 provinces have now seen a full employment recovery, or better,” notes Kavcic.
“Despite waves of restrictions, employment in Ontario is 2.1 per cent above the pre-COVID mark, the strongest recovery in the country along with B.C.”
The top 10 best performing cities in terms of their labour market during the last quarter of the year were:
- Guelph;
- Windsor;
- Edmonton;
- Saskatoon;
- Barrie;
- Ottawa;
- Kitchener;
- Moncton;
- London, and;
- Victoria.
The BMO’s latest labour market report jibes with Statistics Canada’s Payroll Employment, Earnings And Hours, And Job Vacancies, December 2021, which noted there were 896,100 job vacancies in Canada at the start of December, 2.5 per cent or 21,400, higher than at the beginning of November.
“While the number of vacancies remained below the recent peak of 988,300 observed in September 2021, there were 87.9 per cent more vacancies in December 2021 than in December 2020,” noted the statistical and demographic services agency.
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TFWP and IMP Offer Employers Opportunities To Hire Foreign Workers
The bottom line for immigration is that employers are in hiring mode.
Employers hoping to hire a foreign national can avail themselves of this international talent and labour through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), and; the International Mobility Program (IMP).
It all comes down to whether or not the particular job is one of the many exempt from a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA).
That’s a document issued by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) which shows there is both a need for a foreign worker to fill a job and also that no Canadian worker or permanent resident is available to do it.
Jobs that do not require a LMIA are generally those that:
- are included in an international trade accord;
- are part of an accord between the federal government and a provincial/territorial government, or;
- jobs that are deemed in the best interests of Canada.
There are two ways to determine whether a particular position falls under one of the many LMIA exemptions.
Employers can either:
- review the LMIA exemption codes and work permit exemptions, select the LMIA exemption or work permit code that seems most relevant to their hiring situation and read the detailed description to see if an exemption code applies to them, or:
- contact the International Mobility Workers Unit (IMWU) if they are hiring a temporary foreign worker who is both currently outside Canada and from a country whose nationals are visa-exempt.
Global Talent Streams Aims For 2-Week Processing
The Global Talent Stream (GTS), a part of the (TFWP), can lead to the granting of Canadian work permits and processing of visa applications within two weeks.
Employers can also bring in foreign nationals to fill available positions through the Express Entry system, which receives immigration applications online.
Applicants who meet eligibility criteria submit an online profile known as an Expression of interest (EOI), under one of three federal immigration programs or a participating provincial immigration program, to the Express Entry Pool.
The candidates’ profiles then are ranked against each other according to a points-based system called the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS). The highest-ranked candidates are considered for ITAs for permanent residence. Those receiving an ITA must quickly submit a full application and pay processing fees within a delay of 90 days.
