CIC Eliminates Warranty Requirement for Emergency Repair Work Permits

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has lifted previously-imposed restrictions on the issuance of LMO-exempt work permits to facilitate the entry of skilled individuals required to perform emergency repairs on commercial or industrial equipment in Canada.

Under Canada’s immigration laws, foreign workers may obtain a work permit without a Labour Market Opinion where their entry to Canada is required to carry out emergency repairs to industrial equipment in order to prevent disruption of employment in Canada, and where they have sufficient documentation to support the urgent nature of their work. In August 2010, CIC announced that the above exemption from a Labour Market Opinion only applied so long as the equipment requiring emergency repair was still under warranty.

In its most recent updates to Canada’s temporary foreign worker guidelines, however, CIC has lifted this requirement. Moving forward, workers and companies applying for an LMO-exempt work permit under this category no longer need to show that the equipment requiring repairs is under warranty. Previous criteria, including proof of the emergency, still apply.

For further details on this and other LMO-exempt work permit categories, contact a Bomza Law Group professional.