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2. Skills >
3. Foreign Workers

Part I - Summary and Procedures

3. Requesting a Labour Market Opinion

Employers wishing to hire foreign workers (including foreign workers already working in Canada) must generally have the job offers assessed by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada/Service Canada by submitting a completed:

• Foreign Worker Application for an Initial Labour Market Opinion (i.e., first time an application is made for a foreign worker) either online, by mail or by fax. This applies for foreign workers living in their country of residence or foreign workers already in Canada who wish to accept a job offer from a different employer.

In addition to the application forms, employers may be required to provide other documents, such as:

• Evidence of the employer’s efforts to recruit Canadians or permanent residents (e.g., copies of advertisements, and/or receipts showing when and where an advertisement was published, how long it ran for, and the associated costs).
• A copy of the signed employment contract.

Assessment criteria and documents required may vary depending on the industry sector and occupation such as: academics, film and entertainment industry, live-in caregivers, seasonal agricultural and skilled workers, and occupations requiring lower levels of formal training.

Completed employer applications should be submitted to the nearest Service Canada Centre where the job is located. If the job is to be performed in several locations, the application should be sent to, and reviewed first by, the regional Centre closest to the first worksite. A Temporary Foreign Worker Program officer will review the application and seek concurrence from Service Canada Centres in subsequent worksites. (See section 6 for information on concurrence.)

3.1 Third-Party Representatives

Third-party representatives are individuals or companies hired by employers to act on their behalf for the purposes of Labour Market Opinions. In these instances, employers must submit a signed authorization with their applications for Labour Market Opinions (i.e., "Appointment of Representative" form which is  included with the application and the "Annex to the Appointment of Representative" form), specifically authorizing third-party representatives to act on their behalf. Temporary Foreign Worker Program officers may, at their discretion, contact employers directly to confirm the authorization or to clarify aspects of Labour Market Opinion applications.

Even if a third-party representative acts on an employer's behalf (for the purposes of recruiting and/or submitting a labour market opinion application), a Temporary Foreign Worker Program officers makes sure that a valid employment relationship exist between the employer (not the third-party representative) and the foreign worker. (See Section 10.)

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Date Modified:

2011-10-31