RESOURCES

International recruitment, step by step

Three guides describing what a Canadian employer must do to hire a foreign worker. Which programs exist, which one applies to your position, how to build the file and how to submit it. Written by our team from real files.

Guides are in English. Detailed contents below.
3guides, to be read in order
126pages in total
Guide 1open access, no form
$0all three guides are free
THE COLLECTION

Three guides, three moments in the process

The first tells you whether a route exists for your position. The second teaches you how to build the file. The third takes you through to the work permit.

GUIDE01The entry routes26 pages · English
Open access

The full landscape of programs that allow hiring abroad, and what separates those requiring an LMIA from those exempt from it.

  • International Experience Canada and its three streams
  • Francophone Mobility
  • Significant Benefit to Canada
  • Free trade agreements
  • Temporary Foreign Worker Program
Download guide 1 · PDF 2 MB
GUIDE02Preparing the file47 pages · English
On request

The technical part. How to advertise the position compliantly, find the right NOC code, and recognise a candidate whose profile will hold up before an officer.

  • Glossary and authorities involved
  • High-wage and low-wage streams
  • Advertising the position compliantly
  • Identifying and comparing the NOC code
  • The ideal candidate profile
Request guide 2
GUIDE03Filing and follow-up53 pages · English
On request

Submission, from building the file through to the work permit issued, with the forms, the timelines and the most frequent grounds for refusal.

  • Business legitimacy and financial capacity
  • Calculating the right wage for Quebec
  • The presentation letter, with a template
  • Federal filing, Quebec file and CAQ
  • Work permit, biometrics, refusals
Request guide 3
DETAILED CONTENTS

What each guide covers

Chapter by chapter, so you know exactly what you are downloading.

1 · INTRODUCTION

  1. Purpose of the guide
  2. Why immigration and labour market processes matter
  3. Compliance with federal and provincial law
  4. Language obligations in Quebec
  5. Reducing costs and the risk of refusal

2 · THE PROGRAMS

  1. International Experience Canada: working holiday, young professionals, co-op
  2. Age, citizenship, funds and insurance criteria
  3. Francophone Mobility
  4. Significant Benefit to Canada, the C-10 permit

3 · AGREEMENTS AND TFWP

  1. Free trade agreements and the occupations covered
  2. Intra-company transfer and contractual service supplier
  3. The Temporary Foreign Worker Program
  4. The International Mobility Program and its exemptions

4 · QUEBEC

  1. Quebec policy and dual approval
  2. Moving from temporary status to permanent residency
  3. Why French changes the odds on a file

1 · UNDERSTANDING THE LMIA

  1. Glossary and definitions
  2. The authorities: Service Canada, MIFI, IRCC
  3. What the officer actually checks
  4. The Quebec acceptance certificate
  5. Possible exemptions

2 · DETERMINING YOUR STREAM

  1. The main program streams
  2. High wage and low wage: how to decide
  3. Median hourly wage by province
  4. Caps and ratios of foreign workers
  5. Simplified processing in Quebec

3 · ADVERTISING THE POSITION

  1. The recruitment activities required
  2. Everything the advertisement must contain
  3. Keeping the evidence for six years
  4. The record of Canadian applicants set aside
  5. A complete sample advertisement

4 · NOC AND CANDIDATE

  1. Identifying the right NOC code
  2. Comparing the offer to the NOC, the duties rule
  3. The mistakes that get a file refused
  4. The ideal candidate profile
  5. Immigration potential, what it covers

1 · BUILDING THE FILE

  1. Proving the legitimacy of the business
  2. Demonstrating financial capacity
  3. Calculating the right wage for Quebec
  4. The presentation letter and its template
  5. What strengthens a file in an officer’s eyes

2 · FILING

  1. Creating the employer profile and GCKey
  2. Completing and submitting the application
  3. Wage offered, benefits, recruitment evidence
  4. When and how to follow up with the authorities

3 · THE QUEBEC SIDE

  1. Preparing the Quebec package
  2. Forms A-0525-AF, A-2700-CF, A-0700-CF
  3. The representation mandate
  4. Confirmation of receipt and follow-up

4 · PERMIT AND REFUSALS

  1. What the visa officer is looking for
  2. The online application and required documents
  3. Biometrics
  4. Unlocking a delayed file
  5. What to do when a permit is refused
  6. Staying compliant after the hire
2023

Reference date of these documents. These guides were published in 2023. The principles, the programs and the method remain valid, but several thresholds have changed since: foreign worker caps, regional restrictions and low-wage stream conditions have been amended more than once.

We would rather tell you than let you find out. For the current state of the rules, see our service pages, updated on an ongoing basis, or ask us to check your specific case.

GUIDES 2 AND 3

Request the two detailed guides

Free of charge. Tell us where to send them and a member of our team forwards both guides to you. Every request is read by a person, so the reply comes from a person, not from an automated system.

  • Guide 2 Preparing the file. 47 pages.
  • Guide 3 Filing and follow-up. 53 pages.

Your address is never shared. No automated mailing list.

PLAINLY

What a guide can do, and what it does not replace

These documents are written so that an employer can move forward alone. That is deliberate. Here is where a document stops being enough.

What the guides give you

  • The full map of programs, so you stop navigating blind
  • The exact vocabulary of the authorities, the kind that avoids misunderstandings
  • The advertising requirements, item by item
  • The most frequent grounds for refusal, and how to prevent them
  • Enough to judge whether you want to do this work yourself

What they do not replace

  • The state of the rules on the day you file, which changes often
  • A reading of your case: your region, your wage, your headcount
  • Judgement on how solid a candidate really is
  • The answer to the first question: has the local pool truly been exhausted
  • Legal advice
GOING FURTHER

The pages we keep current

Unlike the guides, these pages follow the current state of the programs.

Local recruitmentAlways the first step, across CanadaView page International recruitmentWhich route applies to your positionView page Our methodHow we evaluate a candidateView page Write to usA specific question about your caseGet in touch