work permit for Canada?

We spend a lot of time on this blog talking about how to get visa’s for Canadians wanting to work in the United States.  But recently I have had a few clients here in Canada ask:

do you need a visa for an American coming to work here?

And the quick answer is: Yes*!  For years it was always about the brain drain from Canada to the States but recently I’ve seen more and more Americans willing to consult to Canadian employers in order to help meet a temporary, specialized need.  And like most developing nations you need to get a work permit in order to perform the task requested.

* to be clear, I’m talking about business persons not business visitors.

Just like Canadians going to the US, most of you will come into Canada under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).  In order to apply for a Canadian work permit you must:

• have a job offer or consulting agreement from a Canadian employer;
• you must have completed the application - the instructions are here;
• hopefully you do not require a “labour market opinion”;
• provide proof you meet the requirements under NAFTA for the job (the whole process is in the Foreign Worker Manual- check out page 133, Appendix G but for the actual ”proof” options go here - scroll half way down to Appendix 1603.D.1 );
• proof of identity (e.g. valid passport);
• payment - at the time of this blog entry the fee was CA$150.

You can get the work permit either before you enter Canada or upon arrival at the airport.  Just leave time to process the application.  If you plan on residing in Canada you should also check out Visa requirements.

I scoured everywhere to see how long a work permit is granted for and all I could find was “the length of your work permit depends on the nature of your job in Canada and the work permit category under which you have applied.”  Lame.  I know for my client we only needed 90 days and that was easy.  I know a TN-1 is for a year so perhaps the equivalent work permit here is for a year too. 

So, question: have you got a Canadian work permit for longer than a year?

Let’s try to build some intel on this outstanding item in the process.  Cheers!