Landscaping staff : Alberta, Canada

I need to hire landscaping staff; how can I do this through the temporary foreign worker program?

As an employer, you need to decide if the foreign worker program is your best choice in addressing a labour shortage. You can make an informed decision after learning about the process required for hiring workers from abroad. The following are the steps in that process:

Step 1: Determine the skill level required to do the job

The National Occupational Classification (NOC) defines skill levels.
NOC defines categories of work:

The skilled worker category (NOC categories 0, A and B) includes managerial, professional or technical occupations (i.e. landscape architect or technologist – these usually require post-secondary education such as a trade certificate, college diploma, or university degree);
The semi-skilled worker category (NOC categories C and D) includes jobs that require lower levels of formal training (i.e. horticultural labourers or groundskeepers – usually require a high school diploma and some on-the-job training or job specific courses);

Government of Canada: National Occupational Classification (PDF)

Step 2: Fill out the Foreign Worker - Labour Market Opinion application form

Obtain a copy of the Foreign Worker - Labour Market Opinion Application from the Government of Canada. Complete the application and include the following information and documentation:

NOC O and A occupations

You will have conducted the minimum recruitment efforts required if you:

Advertise on the national Job Bank for a minimum of fourteen (14) calendar days, or
Conduct similar recruitment activities consistent with the practice within the occupation (e.g., advertise on recognized Internet job sites, in journals, newsletters or national newspapers or by consulting unions or professional associations) during the three (3) months prior to applying for a LMO. In addition, provide:
- An offer of employment that respects federal and provincial legal and regulatory requirements and collective agreements.

NOC B occupations

You will have conducted the minimum recruitment efforts required if you:

Advertise on the Government of Canada's national Job Bank for a minimum of fourteen (14) calendar days during the three (3) months prior to applying for a LMO. The advertisement must include the employer's name, business address and wages being offered. In addition, provide:
- An offer of employment that respects federal and provincial legal and regulatory requirements and collective agreements.

NOC C and D occupations (including live-in caregivers and seasonal agricultural workers)

You will have conducted the minimum recruitment efforts required if you:

Advertise on the national Job Bank for a minimum of fourteen (14) calendar days; and
Conduct similar recruitment activities consistent with the practice within the occupation.

The above must take place a maximum of three (3) months prior to applying for a LMO. In addition, you must:

Demonstrate reasonable ongoing recruitment efforts which include communities that traditionally face barriers to employment (Aboriginals, older workers, other disadvantaged groups).
For example, advertisement could be on recognized Internet job sites, in local and regional newspapers, in ethnic newspapers and Internet sites, at community resource centres (Aboriginal and newcomers) and local regional employment centres. In addition, provide:
- An offer of employment that respects federal and provincial legal and regulatory requirements and collective agreements.
- A copy of the employment offer signed by the employer and by foreign worker (if hired in a semi-skilled position).

If you know the name of the person you want to hire, please include his/her name as well as date of birth and country of birth on the application.

If you don’t know the name of the person you want to hire, indicate on the top of your LMO application “PRE-APPROVAL ONLY” so that you get approval in principal which will allow you to continue looking for a foreign worker you want to hire. Usually Service Canada allows you between six and 12 months to identify a foreign worker and provide their personal information to get final approval.

If you are hiring more than one foreign worker for the same type position (e.g. five horticulturalists) you can submit one application for all of them on the LMO application. You must indicate the number of foreign workers you want to hire on the LMO application.

Step 3: Send application to Service Canada

Apply online, or fax your completed Foreign Worker - Labour Market Opinion application and supporting documents to Service Canada at 780-495-2738, or mail to:

Service Canada Foreign Worker Unit
Suite 1440 Canada Place
9700 Jasper Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta T5J 4C1

Step 4: Labour Market Opinion (LMO)

Service Canada’s role is to assess and provide their opinion on how the hiring of temporary foreign worker will impact the Canadian labour market. If your application for a temporary foreign worker is approved, you will receive confirmation in writing. This confirmation letter permits a specific position to be filled by a specific foreign worker for a specific time period. This document is not a work permit.

Step 5: Labour Market Opinion (LMO) approval and job offers

After you obtain a LMO approval letter, send a copy of the letter to the recruited temporary foreign worker, along with your employment contract which must indicate how long you are offering a job to a temporary foreign worker – LMO is issued for the same period of time.

If you are hiring semi-skilled workers (C or D of the NOC) then an employment contract must be sent to foreign workers you want to hire, and must be signed by you (the employer).
In accepting the job offer, the temporary foreign worker must sign the employment contract and return it to the employer.
In addition, the employer, you, should inform the recruited temporary foreign worker that the cost of his / her airfare and health care coverage will be paid by the employer (this is a mandatory requirement).

Step 6: Work permit, visas, medicals

Once a job offer has been made and accepted and the LMO letter has been sent to a temporary foreign worker, the worker must apply for a work permit. In most situations, the foreign worker must apply for a work permit from outside of Canada, usually at the Canadian visa post in their home country. In some instances, the temporary foreign worker may apply for a work permit at a port of entry upon his/her arrival in Canada (under NAFTA).

Temporary foreign workers from some countries must also obtain a Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) before arriving in Canada. The applications for a TRV should be submitted when the application for a work permit is submitted. TRV and work permit applications will be considered at the same time. Temporary foreign workers are responsible for providing all documents that may be requested by the immigration officer to prove that they are qualified to meet the job requirements. They must also meet health, criminality and security admissibility criteria to be admitted to Canada.

In some cases, before coming to Canada, temporary foreign workers may require an immigration medical examination.

Employers interested in hiring seasonal foreign agricultural workers can apply through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program Semi-skilled Stream by following the same steps explained above. They can also apply through Seasonal Agricultural Workers Program (SAWP), which allows the entry of foreign workers to meet the temporary seasonal needs of Canadian agricultural producers during peak harvesting and planting periods. The SAWP was developed by the Government of Canada in cooperation with agricultural producers and a number of foreign countries including Mexico and several Commonwealth Caribbean countries.

Please note that the time required to complete the process of bringing a temporary foreign worker to Alberta may be depend on Canadian visa post and work permit processing times, which vary from country to country.

What do I do if I want to extend the foreign worker’s contract?

Employers of Temporary Foreign Workers can apply for a new Labour Market Opinion (LMO) when the employee's work permit needs to be extended. The approved LMO and a letter of employment should then be provided to the worker to apply to extend their work permit through Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC).

What do I do if I want to keep my temporary foreign workers permanently?

If you decide to offer permanent employment to your foreign workers, you can nominate them through the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP) for permanent resident status. You can only nominate foreign workers who are hired into the skilled positions (NOC levels 0, A or B) and some selected semi-skilled positions (NOC C and D).