As a part of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) requirements, employers must conduct recruitment efforts to hire Canadians and permanent residents before offering a job to a temporary foreign worker.
However, effective March 20, 2020, the TFWP is offering priority processing of occupations related to agriculture, food processing and trucking.
Minimum recruitment requirements for these positions will be waived until October 31, 2020. This applies to pending and future Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIA) for the following 10 key occupations:
- 6331 – Butchers, meat cutters and fishmongers-retail and wholesale
- 7511 – Transport Truck Drivers
- 8252 – Agricultural service contractors, farm supervisors and specialized livestock workers
- 8431 – General Farm Workers
- 8432 – Nursery and Greenhouse Workers
- 8611 – Harvesting labourers
- 9463 – Fish and seafood plant workers
- 9617 – Labourers in food, beverage and associated products processing
- 9618 – Labourers in fish and seafood processing
- 9462 – Industrial butchers and meat cutters, poultry preparers and related workers
For positions under National Occupational Classification (NOC) 7511 that are situated in a province that has a Mandatory Entry Level Training requirement or equivalent, the foreign national must be in possession of this training certification at the time of work permit issuance.
Also, employers can now email the LMIA applications to Service Canada for processing to the appropriate address based on the stream and job location.
