Temporary Resident of Canada

Are you planning on working, studying, or staying as a visitor in Canada? The Temporary Resident Program aims to design, develop, and implement policies and programs to facilitate the entry of temporary workers, students, and visitors in Canada.

Applying for a Temporary resident visa can be stressful, especially if you’re unfamiliar with the paperwork and requirements. Whether you’re applying solely for yourself or require visas for your entire family, you can count on Immigration Matters Inc. and its team to provide dedicated service.

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Canada's Temporary Resident options

Study permit: Canada student VISA

A study permit is a written authorization issued to foreign nationals authorizing them to engage in studies in Canada. To apply for a Canada Student Visa, students must first have been accepted by a Canada educational institution to follow a specific program, eligible at Designated Learning Institutions (DLI).

Then you must have received a acceptance letter from the designated institution which you plan to attend before you submit your application for a Canada Student Visa with the following requirements:

  • Have been accepted by a Designed learning Institution (DLI) in Canada
  • A valid passport or travel document
  • Prove that you have enough money during your stay to pay for: tuition fees, living expenses for yourself, accompanying family members, and return transportation for yourself and accompanying family members.
  • Have no record of criminal activity. You may have to provide a police certificate.
  • Satisfy an officer that you will leave Canada at the end of your studies
  • If required, complete a medical examination

Most foreign nationals need a study permit to study in Canada. You must apply before your travel but some people can apply for a study permit from within Canada.

Work permits: Temporary foreign worker recruitment, open work permit, or LMIA application

Most people need a work permit to work in Canada. There are two types of work permits:
Open Work Permit (OWP), or an Employer-specific work permit.

An Open Work Permit allows a foreign national to work in any job/occupation in Canada, without restrictions. The holder of an OWP does not need an LMIA or confirmation of employment first. To apply in one of these categories, you must check the general eligibility requirements and the application process for each program.

Here are the eligible categories:
  • Foreign spouses/common-law partners of temporary foreign workers
  • Foreign students and spouses/common-law partners being sponsored through the inland spousal/Common-law Sponsorship
  • Graduating international students under Post-Graduation Work Permit Program.
  • International Experience Canada (EIC) Candidates under the Working Holiday category

The Employer specific work permits concerns a person who can only work for the employer for the length of time specified, and if applicable, at the location shown on the permit. In that case, your employer must get a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) before you submit your application for a work permit.

An LMIA is a document from Employment and Social Development Canada/Service Canada that allows an employer to hire a foreign worker through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) to fill labour shortages in Canada.

Before you submit your work permit application, your employer must give you:
  • A copy of the positive LMIA
  • Your job offer letter or contract

LMIA Application

In order to obtain a positive LMIA, a Canadian employer must prove that there is no Canadian or permanent resident worker available to complete the job in question and a foreign worker is therefore required.

LMIA applications should show the following:
  • The number of foreign workers in your company are within the cap established by the government
  • The job offer and the company are genuine
  • The wages and working conditions are in line with those offered to Canadians (NOC wages).
  • Employers conducted reasonable efforts to hire or train Canadians for the job. The foreign worker is filling a labour shortage OR if hiring a foreign worker will directly create new job opportunities or help to retain jobs for Canadians OR the foreign worker will transfer new skills and knowledge to Canadians.
  • This hiring will not affect a labour dispute or the employment of any Canadian worker involved in such a dispute.

** Note that employers who wants to hire a foreign caregiver with a work permit through the Live-In Caregiver Program, must get a Labour Market Impact Assessment and go through the application process to hire them.

LMIA Exemptions

Work permit for a worker does not necessarily require a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA). Here you can find some information about The LMIA exemption codes with the following links:

  • R204: International agreements
  • R205: Canadian interests
  • R206: No other means of support
  • R207: Permanent residence applicants in Canada
  • R208: Humanitarian reasons
** In addition, you must meet all criteria for the category under which you applied.

Visitor VISA: Temporarily visiting Canada

Aside from Canadian citizens and permanent residents, all individuals require permission to enter Canada as a visitor through a temporary Resident Visa (TRV) or an electronic Travel Authorization (eTA).

eTA:

Travelers with passports from countries that are visa-exempt who enter Canada by air will need an eTA. The authorization is electronically linked to your passport and is valid for five years or until your passport expires, whichever comes first.

TRV:

A Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) is an official counterfoil document issued by a visa office that is placed in a person’s passport to show that they have met the requirements for admission to Canada as a temporary resident. Holding a TRV does not guarantee entry to Canada. The admission of foreign nationals into Canada as temporary residents is a privilege, not a right.

Tourists, Temporary foreign workers (with work permits), business Visitors or International students on study permits need either TRV or an eTA. Canadian Immigration and citizenship gives you online the list of countries whose citizen need an eTA or a visa.

Super VISA Sponsor: Tourist VISA for parents or grandparents of Canadian Citizens or Permanent Residents

If you do not need a visitor visa to enter Canada, you can still use the parents and grandparents Super Visa to stay in Canada for up to two years.

To do so, you need to do the following steps:

  • Complete and submit the requested documents to prove your eligibility
  • If the application is approved, we will issue you a letter to give to a border services officer when you arrive in Canada
  • If you travel by air, you need to apply for an eTA separately to allow you to travel to and enter Canada
  • The eTA will be electronically linked to your passport, so you need to travel with the passport you use to apply for your eTA, and your letter to facilitate your travel to Canada
The officer at the border may approve a visit to Canada for up to two years.

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