Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement was negotiated in secret and it was kept in secret even after the final version of the document was supposed to be ratified by the countries which would be included in that international trade agreement (Canada, Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam). Unexpectedly the government of new Zealand made the final draft of the trade agreement public in early November of 2015. It appears if ratified by the Canadian parliament this trade agreement will have a profound impact on the labour mobility in Canada. With Canadian conservative government changes to the Temporary Foreign worker program introduced in June of 2014 it became incredibly difficult to obtain so called Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) which Canadian employers need (there are very few exceptions to that rule) in order to hire a foreign worker. At the present time processing time for LMIA applications (which are used only for work permit applications) is around 5-6 months. LMIA application packages employers have to prepare and send to Service Canada normally have between 80 and 100 pages. Service Canada officers use every possible and impossible reason to deny LMIA applications. So on one hand we have an environment where it is very, very difficult to obtain LMIA, and on the other hand, lo and behold, Canadian federal government is likely to sign a trade deal where foreign workers from the countries signatories of the trade agreement can come to Canada and work without any need for LMIA. According to some (among numerous) critics of the TPP deal this agreement was negotiated and put together by big corporations - legal representatives in respective parliaments are just expected to put their signature on the final document. Hence apparent contradiction in the way issue of foreign workers is treated in Canada. So what will change then? Changes will be seen in the area of: 1) Business visitors coming to Canada (no need for work permit or LMIA, no limit on the number of business visitors since they are not entering Canadian labour market), 2) Intra-Corporate Transferees - no need for LMIA, 3) Investors (no need for LMIA), 4) Professionals and Technicians (no need for LMIA), Definition: professionals means business
persons engaged in a specialty
occupation requiring: (a) theoretical and practical
application of a body of
specialized knowledge; and (b) a post-secondary degree of four
or more years of study, unless
otherwise provided in this
schedule, and any additional
requirement defined in the National Occupation
Classification, and (c) two years of paid work
experience in the sector of
activity of the contract, and (d) remuneration at a level
commensurate with other
similarly-qualified professionals
within the industry in the region
where the work is performed.
Such remuneration shall be
deemed to not include nonmonetary
elements such as,
inter alia, housing costs and
travel expenses. technician means a national engaged
in a specialty occupation requiring: (a) theoretical and practical
application of a body of
specialized knowledge, and (b) a post-secondary or technical
degree requiring two or more
years of study as a minimum for
entry into the occupation,
unless otherwise provided in
this Schedule, as well as any
other minimum requirements for
entry defined in the National
Occupation Classification, and (c) four years of paid work
experience in the sector of
activity of the contract, and (d) remuneration at a level
commensurate with other
similarly-qualified technicians
within the industry in the region
where the work is performed.
Such remuneration shall be
deemed to not include non-monetary elements such as,
inter alia, housing costs and
travel expenses.
For the purpose of this definition,
specialty occupation means, for
Canada, an occupation that falls within
the National Occupation Classification
levels O, A, and B.
Please refer to the original document to see what occupations exactly are listed under professionals and technicians for each country. So if you are a citizen of: Australia, Brunei, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam and want to come to Canada as a temporary foreign worker please pay close attention to what is happening with TPP deal in Canada, or contact us at contact@mbmigration.ca and we will provide you with the most recent update on the immigration rules which reflect provisions of this trade deal. |
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