It has just been announced by HRSDC that as of September 30, 2010, Information Technology Specialists will no longer be able to apply for Canadian work permits unless they obtain a Labor Market Opinion (LMO). This move is a reversal from the procedure that facilitated work permits for IT Workers falling into seven specific IT job categories. These applicants and their Canadian employers were excempt from LMO applications submitted to Service Canada.
Labour Market Opinions Soon to Be Required for Foreign IT Workers
Labour Market Opinions require Canadian employers intending to hire foreign workers to undergo an extensive application procedure demonstrating efforts to hire locally. Proof of recruitment efforts in the form of advertising among other requirments have to be met. The Labour Market Opinion process amounts to at least an additional two months on top of the work permit process which, in some cases, can itself take months.
We feel that HRSDC’s announcement is very unfortunate. Their justification is to maintain the “integrity of the Foreign Worker Program,” and prevent any “adverse impact on the Canadian labor market”. What does this really mean? It is double-speak for a form of protectionism which in a recovering economy like ours is the last thing Canadians need.
Requiring Labour Market Opinions Is An Obstacle IT Foreign Workers
Placing unnecessary barriers  for Canadian IT companies hiring needed foreign workers in a aging labor force and in struggling economy is really not responsible planning. But not a surprising move by the government.
The new Labour Market Opinion requirement for IT Workers will not apply to Quebec based employers and applicants. Lucky them.
In any case, it will be harder for Canadian companies remain competitive in the global market-place as  they will, in some cases, be forced to “hire Canadian” rather than the best and the brightest because of the Labour Market Opinion requirements.
Do You Need Help Regarding Worker Labour Market Opinions?
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President & CEO
Michael Niren
Mr. Niren is CEO of VisaPlace LLC and the President and Managing Partner of VisaPlace Legal Canada, an immigration law firm based in Toronto, and VisaPlace Legal US a law firm registered in The District of Columbia, USA. Mr. Niren is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School in Toronto, a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada, the Canadian Bar Association’s Citizenship and Immigration Section, American Lawyers Association, and an Associate Member of the American Bar Association.
