Hiring Foreign MaPS and AUPE Staff

The position must be advertised in at least three different sources, in addition to the University’s Careers website, as follows:

1. On the Government of Canada’s Job Bank:
   • The advertisement must be posted for a minimum of four consecutive weeks starting from the first day the ad appears and is accessible to the general public.
   • The advertisement must be posted during the three months prior to the employer applying for an LMIA.
   • The advertisement must remain posted to actively seek qualified Canadians and permanent residents until the date a positive or negative LMIA is issued.
2. Use two or more additional methods of recruitment consistent with the normal practice for the occupation:
   • as a minimum, we must choose one method that is national in scope, since people in higher-skilled positions are often mobile and willing to re-locate for work;
   • choose one or more recruitment sites from these: general employment websites (workopolis.com, monster.ca, etc.) and specialized websites dedicated to specific occupation profiles (accounting, marketing, biotechnology, education, engineering, etc.).
   • The advertisement must be posted for a minimum of four consecutive weeks starting from the first day the ad appears and is accessible to the general public;
   • The advertisement must be posted during the three months prior to applying for an LMIA.

Employers must demonstrate that the print media and websites used to advertise, target an audience that has the appropriate education, professional experience and/or skill level required for the occupation.

The advertisement must include the following information:

• Company operating name
• Business address
• Title of position
• Job duties (for each position, if advertising more than one vacancy)
• Terms of employment (e.g. project based, permanent position)
• Wage - a wage range can be used for the purposes of complying with the advertisement requirements; however, the minimum wage in the range must be the prevailing wage;
• Benefits package being offered (if applicable)
• Location of work (local area, city or town)
• Contact information - telephone number, cell phone number, email address, fax number, or mailing address; and
• Skills requirements:  Education, Work experience

Recruitment advertising is placed through Human Resources –Talent Acquisition. Contact your Talent Acquisition Advisor for questions on preparation, placement and deadlines for recruitment advertising.

Ensure that at the start of the advertising, you print a copy of the advertisement from each site where it is posted, including the UCalgary Careers site (so that the date of printing is indicated at the bottom), and that you also print out a copy of the advertisement after the one month is completed (i.e., on the last day of the advertising period).

When we are aware of foreign national candidates at the beginning of a competition, this advertising is done as part of the regular posting process. When the foreign national candidate is found through the recruitment process, we are required to repost the position for the prescribed four weeks, and do the additional advertising.

When we re-post the position you must review all new applicants as thoroughly as in the first round.

Following the review of all candidates, we will have to demonstrate that no Canadian or permanent resident applicants were qualified for the position. Through the Recruitment Summary, we need to outline all recruiting efforts that were made to find qualified candidates. Additionally, for each unsuitable Canadian/permanent resident applicant, we need to provide an explanation as to why the candidate did not meet the requirements of the position. The rationale for each Canadian or permanent resident candidate must be tied to the advertised requirements for the position, in terms of educational credentials, skills, abilities and experience, and we should avoid comparing the foreign national’s qualifications with those of Canadian or permanent resident candidates.

A Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) is an opinion provided by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC)/Service Canada under section 203 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations and upon which a determination by an officer of IRCC as to whether a job offer is genuine and whether the employment of the foreign national is likely to have a neutral or positive effect on the labour market on Canada.

Service Canada Assessment Criteria

• Genuineness – four elements as per [R200(5)];
• Labour Market Impact – 6 elements as per [R203(1)(b)
  • the occupation that the foreign worker will be employed in
  • the wages and working conditions offered; t
  • the employer’s advertisement and recruitment efforts; 
  • the labour market benefits related to the entry of the foreign worker; 
  • the consultations, if any, with the appropriate union;
  • and whether the entry of the foreign worker is likely to affect the settlement of a labour dispute.
• Consistency with the terms of any federal-provincial/territorial agreement where this applies to the employers of foreign nationals as per [R203(1)(c)];
• Substantially the Same (STS) – 3 elements as per [R203(1)(e). STS assessment: Over the past six years, the employer provided substantially the same wages, working conditions and employment in an occupation as those items set out in the offer of employment to the foreign national.

Documents Required to Apply for a Labour Market Impact Assessment

Once the recruitment process has been completed, we are required to prepare and submit to Human Resources Immigration Services the following documentation:

• Labour Market Impact Assessment Application– High Wage and Low-Wage Positions
  As part of the information required on this form, for each unsuitable Canadian/permanent resident applicant, we must provide an explanation as to why the Canadian candidate did not meet the requirements of the position.
• Transition Plan (will be prepared by HR Immigration Services) 
  The Transition Plan must ensure that we have a firm plan in place to reduce our reliance on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, and to transition to a Canadian workforce over the period of time covered by the LMIA. Through the Transition Plan, we must identify certain activities, for example improved advertising and marketing plans that will increase awareness of the University of Calgary; partnerships with organizations serving underrepresented groups to identify potential Canadians for recruitment; or in some cases facilitating the transition of our temporary foreign workers to permanent residence status in Canada. The identified activities must be measurable, and we are required to provide reports on the results of those activities each time we reapply for an LMIA for the same occupation.
• Advertising information: list of publications in which the advertisement appeared, with posting dates/rage; copies of the advertisement (as appeared in all publications/websites and with proof of posting dates/range).

There is no option to extend an LMIA, rather the whole process must be repeated to retain someone past their end date. High skilled LMIAs are usually issued for one to two years.

The completed Labour Market Impact Assessment Application– High Wage and Low-Wage Positions must be signed by the Faculty Dean or equivalent, prior to its submission to Service Canada.

Once the LMIA documentation is completed, HR Immigration Services will submit it to ESDC/Service Canada and will liaise with Service Canada officers throughout the assessment process. 

Service Canada and IRCC processing times vary, hiring units are encouraged to submit the necessary documents to Human Resources – Immigration Services as early as possible in order to avoid delays in the new employee’s start date. Processing times may vary between eight to 12 weeks.

If the application is successful, Service Canada will issue and transmit to the HR Immigration Services office confirmation of a positive LMIA.

The Talent Acquisition Advisor will request the hire information (to be submitted using the Request for Offer Letter form) and will compose a Conditional Offer Letter. This letter, once reviewed by the Hiring Manager, is sent to the candidate along with the LMIA confirmation letter from ESDC/Service Canada, and the Job Profile. The LMIA Confirmation is valid for six months and the candidate must apply for a work permit within this time duration.

Employers must immediately inform ESDC/Service Canada of any changes related to the foreign worker’s terms and conditions of employment as described on the LMIA Confirmation. If Service Canada accepts the employer’s changes to the original LMIA, the employers’ file will be updated accordingly. However, if the changes to the terms and conditions of employment are not in compliance with the original LMIA and offer of employment, employers are required to apply for a new LMIA, based on a new advertising and selection process, and if a positive LMIA is used, the employee must apply for a new work permit.

In accordance with the provisions of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR), ESDC may conduct an Employer Compliance Review or inspection to verify the employer’s compliance with the conditions set out in the positive LMIA confirmation letter and annexes. If the employers fails to comply with program requirements, fines will be imposed by ESDC of up to $100,000 per violation in accordance with the Administrative Monetary Penalty (AMP) Regime implemented on Dec. 1, 2015.

• When you wish to extend an employee that was hired through an LMIA, the University must initiate a new advertising and selection process and apply for a new LMIA. As this can take a number of weeks, it is highly recommended that you contact Immigration Services early to begin the process. Four to six months ahead of the expiry of the employee’s work permit is suggested.
• To extend employees that were hired under an LMIA-exemption, you need to contact Immigration Services to verify whether or not the initial LMIA-exemption can still be applied. If so, upon confirmation by Immigration Services, a Talent Advisor will provide the employee with a new conditional offer letter, which they then use to apply for a new work permit.
• To be formally extended, an employee will be expected to provide an updated work permit and SIN.

• If the application for renewal of the work permit is made before the expiry date of the existing work permit but the work permit expires before a decision is made by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the employee may continue to work under the terms and conditions of the original work permit as per the implied status provisions found in R186 (u). That is, implied status allows the employee to continue working under the conditions of an expired work permit - as long as they applied for a new permit before the original expired. 

  Implied status applies only as long as the employee remains in Canada. Should the employee leave Canada while under implied status, the university must cease processing salary payments.

• Implied status only allows the employee to continue working in the position that they were working in before. If they applied for a new type of work permit or for a change in conditions on their permit, the employee cannot start in the new position until they receive their new work permit that allows them to work in that particular new role.

• If the employee fails to apply to renew their work permit prior to its expiry date, they may seek restoration within 90 days of losing their temporary resident status as a worker. They must submit an application to apply for restoration of temporary resident status and for a new work permit to the Case Processing Center (CPC) in Edmonton, Alberta. In the application, they must provide full details of all the facts and circumstances that resulted in losing their status. They must pay the work permit fee as well as the restoration fee when applying. An officer will evaluate their request for restoration of status and, if approved, will process their application for a work permit. 

  Should they be without status in Canada, the university must cease the employment until their status is restored and they obtain a valid work permit.

• If an application for restoration of status is not made within 90 days of the breach of status, a new work permit application must be submitted from outside Canada to a visa office. Immigration Regulations prohibit issuance of a work permit to such a person for a period of 6 months from the date of contravention.

• A permanent resident does not have a work permit or a visa, and their SIN does not begin with 9 or have an expiry date. There are no restrictions to hiring a permanent resident, so when an employee obtains this status it is very important to collect their Permanent Resident Card and send it to HR – Immigration Services, so their new status is entered into the Human Resources system. Employees must provide their new SIN by logging into the My UCalgary portal and navigating to" all about me>My Info>Social Insurance Number.

  There are a few different ways to apply for permanent residence, such as Express Entry and Provincial Nominee Programs. Foreign national employees will need to determine their eligibility for each program and decide which immigration program will work best for them and their family. For detailed information, refer to the CIC website.

• While we encourage any of our foreign national employees to pursue Permanent Residency, at this time the university can only assist employees who hold full-time permanent positions with this process. Should you or your employee have any general questions,  contact HR – Immigration Services at [email protected].