You are the human resources director for a Canadian-based company with affiliates and subsidiaries in numerous countries. One of your responsibilities is to manage your company's temporary foreign workers in Canada. One of the challenges you face is handling retention issues with some of the foreign workers whom the company would like to hire and keep on a permanent basis on Canadian soil. You may find that Canada is complicated with respect to its rules for admission of foreign nationals for permanent residence. Not to worry — while the rules may be complex, there are circumstances where temporary foreign workers may be granted status as permanent residents of Canada. Gaining a greater understanding of the rules surrounding their eligibility and the timelines governing the process will make your life much easier.
Applications for Permanent Residence
Most work permit categories for temporary foreign workers have hard cap limits on them, such as seven to 10 years. Therefore, in most circumstances, if an employer wants to retain a foreign national in Canada on a longer-term basis, the employee must apply for and obtain permanent residence.
The two most common categories for foreign workers applying for permanent residence are (i) family class sponsorship and (ii) federal skilled worker.
Family Class Sponsorship
A temporary foreign worker may be eligible for permanent residence through the family class category if he or she has a close relative who is willing to sponsor him or her and who is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada.
Acceptable relatives who may be sponsored include spouses, grandparents and parents. This category is most commonly used when a temporary foreign worker is married to or is a common-law spouse of a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada.
Given the limited types of relatives who may be sponsored, in many instances a temporary foreign worker is simply not eligible to take advantage of the family class category and must apply as a federal skilled worker.
Federal Skilled Worker
The federal skilled worker category is the most common one used by temporary foreign workers who want to attain permanent residence in Canada. Under this category, workers must undergo an assessment based on six criteria:
- age;
- educational level;
- work experience;
- adaptability;
- arranged employment; and
- language abilities.
To qualify for permanent residence under this category, an applicant must score a minimum of 67 points out of 100 on the assessment.
Seventy of the possible 100 points are assigned to the education, work experience and language categories. As an example, under most circumstances, a person with a university degree and four years of work experience in a professional capacity along with fluency in either English or French would be able to qualify for the minimum 67 points, as long as he or she can accumulate another eight points in the final three categories of age, arranged employment and adaptability, which make up the final 30 points.
The Process
Once an applicant in Canada files through the family class or the federal skilled worker categories, it can take up to two years for him or her to be granted permanent residence. It is essential for the foreign worker and his or her employer to maintain the worker's lawful temporary status in Canada during that time.
Given the lengthy processing times involved, a decision about whether the worker should seek permanent residence in Canada should be made early enough in the worker's stay in Canada to avoid the worker running out of eligibility room on his or her work permit and being potentially forced to leave Canada.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
