International Mobility Program

Employers in Canada are able to employ foreign workers on temporary work visas thanks to the International Mobility Program (IMP), which excludes the need for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). This could have a lot of benefits for both businesses and employees, who would like the easier, quicker recruiting process.

The International Mobility Project emphasizes Canada’s broader economic and cultural objectives, in contrast to the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, which issues work permits based on the state of the labor market in particular circumstances. This might appear in one of the following ways:

• Agreements that permit mutual youth exchange, like the International Experience Canada (IEC) programme.
• Other international agreements with separate nations, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, and the Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement between Canada and the European Union.
• Enabling employers to transfer employees through the Intra-Company Transfer program if they have a branch, subsidiary, or affiliate in Canada.
• Granting permission for someone who is residing permanently in Canada to work under a Connecting Open Work Permit.
• Permitting foreign graduates who attended Canadian universities to obtain a Post-Graduation Work Permit
• Situations (such as the Mobilité Francophone initiative) that meaningfully benefit Canada’s social or cultural life.

 The list provided above is by no means exhaustive. Trying to compare the International Mobility Program, which is essentially a random suggestion of work permit streams, with the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, which suggestions a more rigid, labor market-oriented assessment of whether a foreign worker may be qualified to work in Canada, is useful in knowing how Canadian work permits are issued.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is largely responsible for managing the IMP. The Canada Border Services Agency and Employment and Social Development Canada are two additional federal government agencies involved in the IMP (ESDC). The Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) which is largely run by ESDC with assistance from IRCC and CBSA is distinct from IMP. For businesses wishing to hire through the programme, the IRCC manages the International Mobility Program Unit.