Landscaping staff
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 - 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);
Please note that temporary foreign workers in jobs (occupations) in NOC categories C and D cannot work in Canada for longer than 24 months. They must return to their home country for four months before applying for another work permit.
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:
- Proof that you have made reasonable efforts to hire or train Canadian citizens or permanent residents for the position; that proof is usually a copy of your job posting advertised on the national Job Bank website. If your company already has an established process for advertising job vacancies through other venues, provide a copy of that posting.
- For positions requiring semi-skilled workers (horticultural labourers or groundskeeper) you must advertise (and provide a copy of the posting) in one more electronic or print media besides the national Job Bank website.
- Advertisements must be posted for at least one week and indicate occupation, job duties, education and required work experience and wages. A job description that includes working conditions (hours of work, wage rates, etc.) and required qualifications.
- An offer of employment that respects federal and provincial legal and regulatory requirements and collective agreements.
- A copy of the employment 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 6 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. 5 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: LMO approval and job offers
After you obtain a Labour Market Opinion 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 for 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?
If you want to extend your foreign worker’s contract for another term you need to be aware that the semi-skilled workers - who fall under the NOC category C or D - can not extend their stay in Canada beyond 24 months. After that period they must return to their country of residence for at least 4 months. If you wish to hire them again, you need to go through the same process you went through when you hired them the first time.
If your initial contract with semi-skilled workers was for less than 24 months, they could be eligible to apply for extension of their stay in Alberta by going through the process explained below. First you need to extend their employment contract, and provide them with the copy of the LMO extension so that they can apply for the extension of their work permit. Their work permit could be extended to a maximum of 24 months which includes their initial work permit validity period.
If you hired foreign workers into positions that fall under the NOC categories 0, A or B and you want to extend their contract, you will have to apply for an Extension of a Labour Market Opinion (select EMP5354B). Once you get the LMO extension give a copy to the foreign worker so that he or she can apply for an extension of a work permit.
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).
Date Updated: Nov 01, 2007
RDP-659