After months of searching and spending money on job postings and recruiting firms, you finally find the ideal candidate to join your company. But there’s a hitch. This candidate – clearly a unique resource, a superstar in the aerospace industry, one of those rare pearls – is neither Canadian nor a permanent resident. As an employer, what do you do in these circumstances?

Many employers find themselves in the same situation. In Quebec, critical shortages in technological fields, both in terms of highly specialized workers and workers with a high school or college diploma, lead employers to look outside and hire foreign candidates.

Those days when foreign workers could be brought in with minimal paperwork, are long gone. Today, employers interested in hiring foreign labour must take precautions and prepare (and prepare for costs!) before hiring foreign workers. In fact, immigration-related obligations for employers have changed significantly in recent years. Employers now need to report to the immigration authorities, are subject to inspections, and may face hefty fines if they fail to honour their commitments with respect to foreign workers. It therefore pays to be well advised when wanting to help a foreign worker obtain a work permit. 

As regards wait times, several temporary immigration programs were introduced last year to help Canadian employers quickly meet the vast needs in growing industries like aerospace.

Through the Global Talent Stream program that was launched in Quebec in September 2017, employers can obtain work permits for highly specialized candidates in as little as 10 days in return for commitments from the employer. The Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), which came into force in September 2017, also opened up new opportunities to make it easier to quickly obtain a work permit for European contractual service providers and independent professionals. Finally, the new Act respecting immigration to Québec, which came into force on August 2, brings significant changes and promises of shorter wait times to obtain residence permits, either temporary or permanent.

Basically, immigration channels are adapting to industry needs and using such channels to satisfy such extensive needs must be regarded as a reliable, valid option. Employers simply need to be well informed and understand their obligations as employers before they set out to hire foreign workers. 

Authors : Chantal Arsenault et Christine Beltempo