EMPLOYERS TO BENEFIT FROM FOREIGN WORKER FAMILY WORK PERMITS

BY LESLIE SISON

THE HONOURABLE SEAN FRASER, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, and the Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance, announced on December 2, 2022, that Canada is extending work permits to family members of temporary foreign workers. Before this announcement, spouses were only eligible for a work permit if the principal applicant worked in a high-skill occupation. By expanding the eligibility for work permits to family members accompanying the principal applicant to Canada, the government hopes to help address labour shortages by assisting employers in finding the workers they need.

Starting in January 2023, a temporary 2-year window will be available where Canada will expand eligibility to work in Canada to spouses and working-age children through a phased approach for workers at all skill levels. This would include families of workers in health care, trades and hospitality.

The temporary measure will be implemented in 3 phases to ensure its successful implementation:

Phase 1 will enable family members of workers coming to Canada through the high-wage stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program or the International Mobility Program to apply for an open work permit.

Phase 2 aims to expand the measure to the family members of workers from the low-wage stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, following consultations. Phase 3 will include consultation with agricultural partners and stakeholders to assess the operational feasibility of expanding the measure to family members of agricultural workers.

As many of our members would be interested in Phase 2 of this program, CNLA will continue to monitor information as it is released to share with all members.

A Reminder Of The Lmia Advertising Requirements Sawp

Effective January 12, 2022, and until June 30, 2023, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) will suspend minimum advertising requirements for employers applying for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) to hire temporary foreign workers in primary agriculture.

Employers are expected to continue efforts to recruit Canadians and permanent residents. However, employers will not be required to meet TFWP minimum advertising requirements or submit proof with their LMIA application. As of June 2020, some occupations are being prioritized including:

82030 - Agricultural service contractors and farm supervisors

85101 - Harvesting labourers

85103 - Nursery and Greenhouse labourers

It is important to note that any Refusal to Process supersedes prioritisation.

You will also notice all references to National Occupational Classification (NOC) codes replace the new 2021 NOC standard which is a new tiered 5-digit NOC code. If you are wondering what your new NOC is, use this Government of Canada tool to find your NOC 2021 code and TEER category today, according to your job title.

Understanding The New Noc Codes

The NOC is the national reference for occupations in Canada. This systematic classification structure categorizes the entire range of occupations in Canada for collecting, analyzing, and disseminating occupational data for labour market information and employmentrelated program administration. A request to revise a NOC code can be made at any time but the government of Canada typically does a full audit and revision about every ten years. NOC structural revisions are planned every 10 years and content was updated every 5 years to respond to labour market changes. This most recent publication of the NOC 2021 represents a major structural revision of classification based on its 10-year revision cycle. NOCs are important for Employment Profiles, Unemployment requests and Applications for the TFWP/SAWP amongst other requirements.

We live in a time when changes in technology and education and where new occupations are developed to support these changes happen rapidly. With the onset of COVID and the unprecedented demand for EI and businesses being forced to close, this highlighted that many occupations were not correctly classified, which caused delays for individuals in receiving government support.

The new NOC 2021 includes structural changes such as the addition, aggregation or merging, and splitting of unit groups as well as the reorganization of certain groups across broad occupational categories and Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities (TEER) categories. The new NOC 2021 also: l Overhauls the current fourcategory NOC “Skill level” structure by introducing a new six-category system representing the level of Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities (TEER) required for entry in an occupation. l Adopts a five-tiered hierarchical arrangement of occupational groups with successive levels of disaggregation containing broad occupational categories, major groups, sub-major groups, minor groups, and unit groups. l Introduces a brand new five-digit codification system to replace the current four-digit system.”

(https://noc.esdc.gc.ca/Structure/ Noc2021)