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After record numbers of newcomers in 2022 and 2023, last year the government changed tack and announced major changes aimed at reducing the number of temporary residents and new permanent residents amidst the high cost of living and housing shortage. In all likelihood, 2025 will see the government continue to implement measures which will have the effect of reducing temporary resident and permanent resident numbers. Here’s what you need to know to start 2025.

Changes to Open Work Permits for Spouses of Workers

On January 21, 2025, several changes will be implemented regarding open work permits for spouses and children of foreign workers and students.

Spouses of foreign workers will be eligible for open work permits only if the principal foreign worker is employed in a TEER 0 (managerial) or TEER 1 (high-skilled work that usually requires a university degree) occupation. The work permit of the foreign worker must also be valid for at least 16 months at the time the spouse applies for their open work permit.

Spouses of foreign workers employed in TEER 2-5 occupations will no longer be eligible for open work permits, with few exceptions. The exceptions are select TEER 2 and 3 (work that usually requires a college diploma) occupations in sectors with labour shortages or linked to government priorities. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) has announced that these are to be in the natural and applied sciences, construction, health care, natural resources, education, sports, and military sectors. The list of exempt TEER 2 and 3 occupations will be released on January 21^st.

These changes will not apply to spouses of workers whose work permits are covered by free trade agreements.

If a spouse of a foreign worker no longer meets the criteria for an open work permit but has an open work permit issued under previous measures, and that work permit is shorter than the principal applicant’s work permit, the spouse can renew their work permit if they are applying under the same criteria as the current work permit and the requested duration of the renewed work permit matches the work permit of the principal applicant.

Changes to Open Work Permits for Spouses of Students

Spouses of international students will only be eligible for open work permits if they are enrolled in master’s programs that are 16 months or longer, doctoral programs, or select professional and eligible programs.

If a spouse of an international student no longer meet the criteria for an open work permit but has an open work permit issued under previous measures, and that work permit is shorter than the principal applicant’s study permit, the spouse can renew their work permit if they are applying under the same criteria as the current work permit and the requested duration of the renewed work permit matches the study permit of the principal applicant. If the international student requires more time to complete their program, the spouse will also be eligible to renew their work permit for the duration of the international student’s extended study permit.

Additionally, these changes will not apply to spouses of principal applicants who are transitioning to permanent residence.

Children of Foreign Workers and Students

Children of foreign workers and international students will no longer be eligible for open work permits at all.

End of Flagpoling

As of December 23, 2024, work permit and study permit applicants can no longer enter the United States or St. Pierre and Miquelon, then re-enter Canada to access immigration services at the port of entry. US citizens and permanent residents are exempt from this, as are professionals and technicians under free trade agreements with the United States and Mexico, Chile, Panama, Peru, Colombia, and South Korea. Spouses or common-law partners of professionals and technicians under free trade agreements with Panama, Colombia, and South Korea are also exempt from the ban on flagpoling. Another exemption includes international truck drivers who hold a work permit, are required to depart Canada for their work, and who applied for a work permit renewal prior to departing. A further exemption includes individuals who have a pre-existing appointment booked with the Canada Border Services Agency (“CBSA”) for permit processing.

Students whose study permits have expired, who have applied for renewals before they expired, but then leave Canada, will not be able to study when they return. They will need to wait for their study permit application to be approved before they can study again.

There is still some confusion surrounding the implementation of the ban on flagpoling, and we have sought clarification from the CBSA, with mixed messages. Some CBSA officers may view that even if someone stayed in the US for more than 24 hours and did not enter the US solely to turn around and re-enter Canada, this is still considered flagpoling.

Also, if there is still validity on one’s work permit, even for one (1) day, CBSA is very likely to view this as flagpoling for those returning from overseas destinations too, and will not process a request for a new work permit.

Express Entry Changes to Points for Job Offers

IRCC has announced that some time in spring 2025, it will implement a temporary measure to eliminate points under Express Entry to be awarded for job offers. This change is intended to primarily prevent fraud regarding Labour Market Impact Assessments (“LMIAs”) being bought and sold to support comprehensive ranking scores (“CRS”) to secure an invitation to apply for permanent residency. IRCC has not announced details including whether job offers based on LMIAs will be differentiated from job offers based on LMIA-exempt, employer-specific work permits where the applicant has worked in Canada for at least one (1) year. Accordingly, there is much uncertainty regarding this and how the CRS may be further impacted. In the meantime, the fraud will likely intensify.

This could mean that many people, particularly those who are not young adults and receive few or no points for age, may no longer have a path to permanent residence under Express Entry. In 2024, Express Entry draws had high cut-off scores, and job offers often made the difference between candidates being selected or not being selected. We await further details from the government.

International Experience Canada Re-Opening

International Experience Canada (“IEC”) is a program allowing young adults from certain countries with which Canada has an agreement, or who are nominated by certain recognized organizations (“ROs”), to work in Canada for up to two (2) years. IEC has now opened for 2025 and the first draws are taking place. If you are interested in IEC, we would be happy to advise on your options.

Changes in Unemployment Rates

Currently, Employment and Social Development Canada (“ESDC”) has a policy in place to not process low-wage LMIAs where the unemployment rate for that region is 6% or higher. Low-wage LMIAs are those in which the wage offered to workers are less than the wage threshold for the province where the work is to take place. The wage threshold is the median wage for all wages in that province with an additional 20% added.

ESDC has released updated unemployment rates for each region. The eligibility of LMIA applications submitted between January 10, 2025, and April 3, 2025, will be based on these updated unemployment rates. The regions where the unemployment rate has dropped from 6% or more to less than 6% are Vancouver, Abbotsford-Mission, Winnipeg, Brantford, Kingston, Ottawa-Gatineau, and Trois-Rivières. You can consult ESDC’s chart to determine if your region now allows you to apply for a low-wage LMIA.

The consequences of the government’s ongoing updates and changes are many and far-reaching, consequently we expect 2025 to be a rollercoaster. If you have questions about any of these topics discussed, please feel free to reach out to us for a consultation. Our Canadian immigration legal professionals can be reached by phone (416-368-1111) or via email: caruso@cilf.ca; bonisteel@cilf.ca; ali@cilf.ca; mukherjee@cilf.ca; garciafialdini@cilf.ca.

Back in April 2024, the government announced that in the fall, it would allow full-time international students to work up to 24 hours per week off-campus. This 24-hour per week limit was settled on to strike a balance between allowing students to pay for their studies and living expenses and focusing on their studies as the purpose of their stay in Canada. Further, the program of study must be a full-time post-secondary academic, vocational or professional training program, or a vocational training program offered at the secondary level in Québec. The program must be at least six months in length and lead to a degree, diploma, or certificate. This 24-hour limit for off-campus work came into effect November 15, 2024. There is no limit to the number of hours a student can work off-campus during regularly scheduled breaks such as the summer or winter holidays.

Additionally, to enforce its limit on the number of international students in Canada and to try to ensure that study permit holders are in Canada to study, designated learning institutions (DLIs) are required to submit a report twice a year to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) indicating whether each study permit holder associated with their school remains enrolled. The government has further stated that students who are no longer enrolled can be investigated for breaking their study permit conditions and may face enforcement action.

IRCC has also stated that its letter of acceptance (LOA) verification process has been successful. Between December 1, 2023, and October 6, 2024, IRCC received almost 529,000 LOAs, confirmed 492,000 of them as valid with DLIs, and identified over 17,000 LOAs that did not match a LOA issued by a DLI or which was already cancelled.

Further updates to the International Student Program relate to the end of the Student Direct Stream and Nigeria Student Express on November 8, 2024. The Student Direct Stream was a fast-track process for study permit applicants from Antigua and Barbuda, Brazil, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, India, Morocco, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Senegal, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Vietnam. Applicants had to submit English language test results meeting a certain threshold and obtain a Guaranteed Investment Certificate of $20,635. A similar stream existed for Nigerian study permit applicants with Nigeria Student Express. Both of these programs have now ended.

These measures are to continue into the future as the government continues to place further scrutiny on the International Student Program and to limit the number of international students, and temporary and permanent residents in general, in Canada.

If you have questions about off-campus work that may affect you or an employee, you can reach out to us for a consultation. Our Canadian immigration legal professionals can be reached by phone (416-368-1111) or via email: caruso@cilf.ca; fagan@cilf.ca; bonisteel@cilf.ca; ali@cilf.ca; mukherjee@cilf.ca; garciafialdini@cilf.ca.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) have announced major changes regarding eligibility for intra-company transfer (“ICT”) work permits, low-wage Labour Market Impact Assessments (“LMIAs”), and Post-Graduation Work Permits (“PGWPs”) which will further reduce the number of workers in Canada. Here’s what you need to know:

Limits to Intra-Company Transfer Work Permits

The changes to ICT work permits are now in effect. These significant changes encompass ICTs that are not subject to free trade agreements. . The free trade agreement ICTs remain unaffected.  These include free trade agreements that Canada has with other countries, including but not limited to the United States, Mexico, the European Union, the UK, Ukraine, Peru, Colombia, Chile, South Korea, Australia, Brunei, Japan, New Zealand, and Malaysia. The changes below refer to the general ICT work permit provisions that are not part of free trade agreements.

• The prevailing wage for the occupation (the median wage for the occupation in the area where the foreign national will work) must now be met for executives, managers, and specialized knowledge workers. This was previously only required for specialized knowledge workers.
• The company transferring the workers must meet the definition of “multinational corporation” (“MNC”). IRCC defines an MNC as a company which has at least two (2) entities outside of Canada that are actively engaged in business.
• The worker must be transferring to Canada in the same capacity as the position they held abroad. This language is vague and not well-defined, but we believe it to mean that the worker must hold the same duties in Canada that they held overseas, but do not know if the job title must be identical or just within the same national occupational code.
• The worker’s position in the foreign enterprise must remain available to them to return to once they leave Canada. The particulars of this requirement are again unclear, especially considering that workers will often progress in their careers, and that the foreign company the worker was employed at may close and they may need to transfer to another affiliate in the organization. In practice, in the past this has meant the transferring company must continue to carry on business at all times while the foreign worker is in Canada and be in a position to transfer the worker from Canada to the original company outside Canada to a largely similar position. Given that IRPA provides for dual intent, and allows foreign workers to have both a temporary and permanent intend, it is puzzling why IRCC have chosen to emphasize this criteria.
• The employment location in Canada must be a physical commercial premises. It cannot be a co-shared premises, virtual business that only has a mailing address, or a residential location. Businesses should have a leased office, industrial, or other commercial premises to meet this requirement. This requirement seems unrealistic given the shift to many companies offering hybrid remote work and downsizing or sharing physical premises.
• When entering to do project-based work, either at the company or client sites, a maximum work permit of one (1) year can be issued. This will affect workers who enter Canada for a specific project, such as delivering training sessions; inspecting, maintaining, or installing equipment at a client site; or operating specialized equipment for an infrastructure project.

Limits to Low-Wage LMIAs

Low-wage LMIAs are now further restricted, which will further limit the number of foreign workers in Canada. Low-wage LMIAs are defined as LMIAs for positions in which the wage offered for the job is below the overall median wage for all positions in that province or territory of Canada. The median wages are listed here: https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/foreign-workers/median-wage.html. If the wage offered is above the median wage, the LMIA would be a high-wage LMIA.

• IRCC will refuse to process low-wage LMIA applications in areas where the unemployment rate is 6% or higher. Unemployment rates by census metropolitan area can be located here: https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/services/foreign-workers/refusal.html. It should be noted that the unemployment rates for many large metropolitan areas in Canada, including Toronto, London, Windsor, Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, and Halifax, are over 6%.
  • Exemptions to the refusal to process include occupations in primary agriculture; construction; food manufacturing; hospitals; nursing and residential care facilities; educational services; caregiving services including registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses, licensed practical nurses, home childcare providers, and personal support workers including live-in caregivers.
  • LMIAs solely to support an application for permanent residency are also exempt from the refusal to process.
• IRCC will not process low-wage LMIAs where more than 10% of the workers at the same work location are low-wage temporary foreign workers (“TFWs”). However, for the following industries, this cap on TFWs at the work location is 20%:
  • Construction; food manufacturing; hospitals; nursing and residential care facilities; educational services; caregiving services including registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses, licensed practical nurses, home childcare providers, and personal support workers including live-in caregivers.

Limits to Post-Graduation Work Permits

On November 1, 2024, the following will take effect for those who wish to apply for PGWPs:

For study permits issued before November 1, 2024:

• Applicants must complete a designated English or French language proficiency test, which includes CELPIP, IELTS, PTE Core, TEF Canada, or TCF Canada, and achieve a minimum level of language proficiency.
  • Graduates of universities will need to achieve a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level of 7, which is roughly equivalent to an adequate intermediate level.
  • Graduates of colleges will need to achieve a CLB level of 5, which is roughly equivalent to an initial intermediate level.

For study permits issued after November 1, 2024, in addition to having to meet language requirements, there are additional requirements as noted below that must be met:

• Graduates of a university program that does not confer a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree must have studied in an eligible field, as listed here: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/study-canada/work/after-graduation/eligibility/study-requirements.html#field-of-study.
• Graduates of a college program or any other program not listed above must have studied in an eligible field, as listed here: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/study-canada/work/after-graduation/eligibility/study-requirements.html#field-of-study

Further reduction in the number of temporary residents can be expected based on the Minister Miller’s announcement of September 18, 2024 where he indicated changes to the eligibility criteria for Open Spousal Work Permits.

The government’s changes to these programs are significant and will make it more difficult for many people to come to Canada and for many people to stay in Canada. Many employers and workers who are intra-company transferees, on low-wage LMIA-based work permits, and recent graduates will be affected by these measures. These measures will significantly impact foreign businesses make it difficult for companies to establish and expand in Canada.  Clearly these are very challenging times in the Canadian immigration landscape. If you have questions about these changes, or about coming to or remaining in Canada for yourself or an employee, you can reach out to us for a consultation. Our Canadian immigration legal professionals can be reached by phone (416-368-1111) or via email: caruso@cilf.ca; fagan@cilf.ca; bonisteel@cilf.ca; ali@cilf.ca; mukherjee@cilf.ca; garciafialdini@cilf.ca.

On August 11, 2024, a new public policy[1] from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC”) took effect which provides a further avenue for Ukrainians who came to Canada under the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (“CUAET”) to remain in Canada as workers or students.

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, approximately 300,000 Ukrainian citizens and permanent residents entered Canada under the CUAET measures. Given the difficulty for many newcomers in general with finding jobs that require higher education and given that many avenues to permanent residence require highly skilled work experience, many Ukrainians were left without a durable solution regarding their immigration status in Canada following the end of the CUAET measures on March 31, 2024. The new public policy now gives further time for CUAET beneficiaries to remain in Canada and transition to permanent residency.

The public policy allows Ukrainian temporary residents (workers, students, or visitors) who arrived in Canada under the CUAET measures before March 31, 2024, to apply for an open work permit or study permit valid for three (3) years, subject to passport validity. It is important to note that consular services for male Ukrainian citizens between the ages of 18 and 60 residing outside of Ukraine have been suspended unless one has registered for a military document, which adds an extra step for Ukrainian men between 18 and 60 in getting a new passport.

Further, this public policy does not exempt one from paying the processing fees as the CUAET did, and applicants will be required to pay the open work permit or study permit fees. This public policy expires on March 31, 2025, and applicants must apply for an open work permit or study permit by then.

Additionally, IRCC implemented another public policy[2] on August 1, 2024, for those who applied for the CUAET and whose applications were still begin processed as of February 4, 2024. These individuals can still enter Canada under the CUAET measures up to December 31, 2024.

If you or an employee has any questions about the public policy allowing CUAET recipients access to further three (3) -year work or study permits, or the public policy allowing for entry to Canada up to December 31, 2024 for those who applied for the CUAET and whose applications were still being processed on February 4, 2024, feel free to reach out to us for a consultation. Our Canadian immigration legal professionals can be reached by phone (416-368-1111) or via email: caruso@cilf.ca; fagan@cilf.ca; bonisteel@cilf.ca; ali@cilf.ca; mukherjee@cilf.ca; garciafialdini@cilf.ca.

 

[1]https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/mandate/policies-operational-instructions-agreements/public-policies/ukraine-cuaet-februrary-4-extension.html

[2]https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/mandate/policies-operational-instructions-agreements/public-policies/ukraine-cuaet-februrary-4-extension.html

After feedback and lobbying from various countries, veterinarians, industry partners, and the public, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (“CDC”) has walked back from some of its requirements for dogs from countries that are rabies-free or with a low risk of rabies, including Canada. Specifically, dogs entering or returning to the United States from such countries will no longer require a form completed by a veterinarian which would only have been valid for 30 days.

The updated rules that are set to come into force on August 1, 2024, are summarized below and can be found here: https://www.cdc.gov/importation/dogs/rabies-free-low-risk-countries.html. Please keep in mind that these requirements apply only to dogs that have been in rabies-free or low-risk countries for the 6 months prior to entry or return to the United States, including Canada. These rules apply to Service Dogs as well as to Americans returning to the United States with their dogs after visiting these countries, including Canada.

• Must be at least 6 months old;
• Must appear healthy upon arrival;
• Must be microchipped;
• CDC Dog Import Form – Must be completed and the receipt provided to airline officials and/or United States Customs and Border Protection (“CBP”) officials upon entry to the United States.

This form and its receipt are valid for 6-months and can be completed on the date of travel and is valid for 6-months, including multiple entries. This is especially relevant for snowbirds planning to spend 6-months in the United States with their dog that the form be completed as close to their travel as possible to cover the full 6-months’ stay.

It is to be noted that the form and the receipt will not be valid if during the 6-months, the dog has travelled to a high-risk county, as there are different set of requirements for travel to the United States in cases where a dog has been in a high-risk country in the last 6-months.

Canada is continuing its talks with the U.S., to seek a nine-month grace period from these requirements to ensure both Canadian and American travellers heading to the United States face minimal disruption.  For now, the above requirements are set to come into effect on August 1, 2024.

Keep in mind that there is variance in requirements around entry and return to the United States depending on where the dog has been in the last 6 months, especially if the dog has been in a high-risk country or if the dog has a foreign or U.S.-administered rabies vaccine. As such, travellers are encouraged to check CDC’s website (see link below) to avoid any surprises at the border: https://www.cdc.gov/importation/dogs/index.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fimportation%2Fdogs%2Fenter-the-us.html.

Although, some of the rules have been relaxed by CDC, the requirements are still quite cumbersome especially to the section of the population reliant on service dogs.  Hence, a more sustainable and equitable solution needs to be developed to ensure hassle free travel for dog owners between the two countries.