The HR Space is edited by
Louise Béchamp,
Karen M. Sargeant and
Brian P. Smeenk
On December 15, 2012, Immigration Canada announced a new policy
to allow for "bridging" work permits. Now, foreign
nationals who are currently working in Canada and have applied for
permanent residence (under certain programs) can apply for a
bridging open work permit to allow them to stay and work until
their permanent residence application is finalized.
This new policy eases the process of extending work permits in
these situations. Before, the temporary files and the permanent
files of the applicant were not linked. As previously discussed
(see our Bulletins "Obtaining a Work Permit In Canada: The Labour
Market Opinion Process" of January 5, 2010 and "Advertising Requirements before Hiring a
Foreign Worker" of June 2, 2010), if the person had a work
permit based on a Labour Market Opinion ("LMO"), in order
to renew or extend the permit, the employer had to start the
