- NAFTA Work Permit lets citizens of Canada, the United States, and Mexico gain quick entry into each other’s countries for temporary business or investment reasons. These people do not need a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). This means that Canadian employers do not need to have a job offer approved by Employment and Social Development Canada to hire an American or a Mexican business person
Under NAFTA Work Permit, business people must meet the general rules for temporary entry to Canada.There are four groups of businesspeople under NAFTA: - Business visitors
- Professionals
- Intra-company transferees
- Traders and investors
With the exception of the business visitors group, all other groups will require a work permit to work in Canada. Steps2Canada has the experience and knowledge to take care of your work permit application.
- A business visitor is someone who comes to Canada to take part in international business activities without being part of the Canadian labor market. Business visitors usually stay in Canada for a few days or a few weeks but are able to stay for up to six months.
- Business visitors do not need a work permit.
To work in Canada as a professional, you must:
- be qualified to work in one of the jobs set out in NAFTA
The listing of the jobs that qualify are as follow:
- Accountant
- Architect
- Computer Systems Analyst
- Disaster Relief Insurance Claims Adjuster
- Economist
- Engineer
- Forester
- Graphic Designer
- Hotel Manager
- Industrial Designer
- Interior Designer
- Land Surveyor
- Landscape Architect
- Lawyer (including Notary in the Province of Quebec)
- Librarian
- Management Consultant
- Mathematician (including Statistician)
- Range Manager/ Range Conservationist
- Research Assistant (working in a post-secondary educational institution)
Scientific
- Technician/Technologist
- Social Worker
- Sylviculturist (including Forestry Specialist)
- Technical Publications Writer
- Urban Planner (including Geographer)
- Vocational Counsellor
Medical/Allied Professional
- Dentist
- Dietitian
- Medical Laboratory Technologist (Canada)
- Medical Technologist (Mexico and the United States)
- Nutritionist
- Occupational Therapist
- Pharmacist
- Physician (teaching or research only)
- Physiotherapist/Physical Therapist
- Psychologist
- Recreational Therapist
- Registered Nurse
- Veterinarian
Scientists
- Agriculturist (including Agronomist)
- Animal Breeder
- Animal Scientist
- Apiculturist
- Astronomer
- Biochemist
- Biologist
- Chemist
- Dairy Scientist
- Entomologist
- Epidemiologist
- Geneticist
- Geologist
- Geochemist
- Geophysicist (including Oceanographer in Mexico and the United States)
- Horticulturist
- Meteorologist
- Pharmacologist
- Physicist (including Oceanographer in Canada)
- Plant Breeder
- Poultry Scientist
- Soil Scientist
- Zoologist
Teachers
- College
- Seminary
- University
- Have a job offer from a Canadian business in that field and
- Have a work permit.
This is a person who is sent to work for the same company in a different country. If this is your case, you must:
- Have worked
- On an ongoing basis,
- For at least one year in the last three years,
- For the same or a related employer in the United States or Mexico,
- Be transferred to Canada to work short term for the same or a related employer,
- Work as a manager, as an executive, or in a job that uses specialized knowledge, and
- Have a work permit.
To work in Canada as a trader or investor, you must:
- Be involved in planning, as a supervisor or executive, or in a role that involves essential skills,
- a large amount of trade in goods or services, mainly between Canada and your home country, or
- a large investment in Canada by you or your company,
- Meet any other rules of NAFTA and
- Have a work permit.
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