Reciprocal employment general guidelines [R205(b) – C20] – Canadian interests – International Mobility Program
This section contains policy, procedures and guidance used by IRCC staff. It is posted on the department’s website as a courtesy to stakeholders.
In these instructions, “officer” refers to employees of both IRCC and the Canada Border Services Agency.
The instructions on this page should be reviewed in conjunction with the following:
- Employer-specific work permits – General processing – International Mobility Program
- Assessing the genuineness of the offer of employment on a work permit application – R200(5)
- Conditions and validity period on work permits (temporary workers)
- Public list of Employers who have been non-compliant
Paragraph 205(b) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) allows temporary workers to take up employment in Canada when these opportunities also create or maintain reciprocal employment in other countries for Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada.
Reciprocity includes exchanges between Canada and the foreign worker’s country of residence or citizenship, as well as employment opportunities between Canada and other locations that the employer (such as a multinational company or academic institution) may offer. Note that other qualifications, such as licensing and medical requirements (if applicable), must still be met.
Note that work permit applications made under International Experience Canada, a reciprocity program, should be assessed separately under R204(d) (see International Experience Canada).
On this page
- Place of application
- Eligibility
- Documentary evidence
- Application assessment
- Assessing reciprocity
- Common examples of C20
- Final decision
- Renewals
- Family members
- Previous updates
Place of application
A foreign national may apply for a work permit at any time before entering Canada [R197].
Eligibility
To be eligible for the reciprocity category under administrative code C20, the applicant must have an offer of employment that would create or maintain reciprocal employment of Canadian citizens or permanent residents of Canada in other countries.
The employer should indicate how reciprocity exists in the offer of employment, and the applicant should provide evidence of how they meet the requirements of this category in the work permit application.
The reciprocity does not have to be directly between two countries. For example, a multinational company can show that they create or maintain similar opportunities for Canadians at different offices around the world.
Documentary evidence
Evidence of reciprocal employment is required so that the officer can determine eligibility. Officers should be satisfied that they have the information they need to make an assessment.
This could be indicated in:
- the exchange agreement between the Canadian or permanent resident of Canada and the foreign parties;
- a letter from the receiving Canadian institution;
- the offer of employment (if it provides evidence of reciprocity); or
- for cultural agreements, a letter from the appropriate governing body included in the application.
If necessary, the officer can request documents and/or data to enable verification of reciprocal employment volumes. Bona fide evidence of reciprocity will allow the officer to issue a work permit.
Application assessment
When officers are reviewing the work permit application, the following factors should be reviewed.
Review of the offer of employment for employer-specific work permits
When assessing if the work permit application meets the requirements of reciprocity, officers should review the information provided by the employer in the offer of employment that appears under the Employment Details tab in GCMS or the matching fields on the IMM 5802 form (if the employer is authorized to use it).
| Field | Considerations |
|---|---|
| LMIA Exemption Code | This is the code that the employer selected in the Employer Portal when submitting the offer. Employers should have selected C20. Ensure that the administrative code matches the description in “Requirements Exemptions Met.” |
| Requirements Exemptions Met | Information in this field outlines how the job meets the work permit category requirements, that is, how the position in Canada creates or maintains reciprocal employment. The employer may upload additional documents as part of this information, which can be found in the Incoming Correspondence titled “LMIA exemption explanation.” |
| Duties and Job Requirements | These are the activities that the foreign national will be performing. Are they in line with the work permit category and the occupation stated? Are there specific requirements in line with the category? For example, a specific educational level or employment experience qualifications. |
Assessing reciprocity
Foreign nationals who are eligible for processing under administrative code C20 are subject to all other eligibility and admissibility requirements under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (including section A39) and the IRPR.
Officers must be satisfied that all eligibility requirements are met at the time of the decision on the work permit application.
It is not necessary that there be exact reciprocity (that is, a one-for-one exchange), but the general order of magnitude of exchanges should be reasonably similar on an annual basis. In assessing reciprocity, one would consider the relative number and percentage. For example, for exchanges involving larger numbers of foreign nationals (such as more than 25), officers could require a higher minimum proportion of Canadians employed abroad to foreign nationals employed in Canada (such as at least 75%) than for smaller exchanges.
When the entities involved have no history of conducting reciprocal exchanges with Canada, it is reasonable that work permits be initially limited to a small number of individuals and that subsequent work permits be issued only when reciprocity has been demonstrated. When organizations have a demonstrated history of reciprocal exchanges, they may be permitted some flexibility in the flow of exchange on an annual basis, as long as they are able to demonstrate that the exchanges are similar over a reasonable period of time (for example, 5 years).
In assessing reciprocity, officers can consider not only the number of individuals working in Canada and abroad, but also employment duration and job level.
Tip: A useful starting point can be a company’s human resources (HR) plan or its international mobility policy in its HR directives, which may provide evidence that an exchange program is in place and, depending on the balance of bilateral flow, may indicate that it is reciprocal in practice.
Common examples of C20
Professional and semi-professional coaches and athletes working for Canadian-based teams
Full- or part-time paid coaches and trainers, and professional or semi-professional athletes working for Canadian-based teams require work permits. Given the international mobility in this field, they may be eligible for exemption from a labour market impact assessment (LMIA) pursuant to paragraph R205(b), C20 (now C26), if they can prove that reciprocity exists for the particular occupation in their home country.
A full-time coach is a worker who earns significant income from coaching, enough to support themselves. A part-time coach earns a significant portion towards supporting themselves in Canada.
Professional Canadian teams, for which foreign athletes would require a work permit, include, but are not limited to, those in
- the National and American Hockey Leagues
- the Canadian Football League
- Major League Baseball and its affiliates at the A, AA and AAA levels
- the National Basketball Association
- the Canadian Soccer League
- Major League Soccer
Cultural agreements
- Persons entering Canada to take employment under the terms of cultural agreements between Canada and the following countries: Belgium, Brazil, Germany, Italy, Japan and Mexico.
- Cultural agreement between the governments of Canada and France
Temporary employment is allowed under the cultural agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of France, or under the terms of any educational, cultural, scientific, technical or artistic agreement made between France and a province of Canada within the framework of that agreement, provided that the applicants submit a letter of acceptance from the appropriate governing body to the officer. - Cultural exchange between the Government of Canada and the People’s Republic of China
Under the terms of the cultural exchange program relating to the arts, archives, libraries, journalism, radio, television, film, literature, translation, architecture, social sciences and sports.
Unique situations
Final decision
Approval
The work permit will be issued under the authority of subparagraph R205(b).
In GCMS, under the “Application” screen, officers should enter the information below in the specified fields.
| Field | Selection or input |
|---|---|
| Case type | 52 |
| Province of destination | The province of destination entered by the applicant should match the address of employment in the LMIA-exempt offer of employment. This information is under the Employment Details – LMIA-exempt tab. |
| City of destination | The city of destination entered by the applicant should match the address of employment in the LMIA-exempt offer of employment. This information is under the Employment Details – LMIA-exempt tab. |
| Exemption code (Administrative code) | C20: Reciprocal employment |
| Employer | Business operating name |
| Intended occupation | Job title This is auto-populated from the LMIA-exempt offer of employment. |
| LMIA/LMIA-exempt # | The “A” number from the work permit application. This number is auto-populated from the work permit application, and it is what is used to “match” in the Portal. If the work permit application was submitted on paper, the officer must manually enter the number. |
| National Occupational Classification (NOC) | As specified on the offer of employment. Do not use synthetic NOC codes. |
| Duration | Officers may issue an LMIA-exempt work permit that is valid for the duration of the offer of employment or until the expiry of the travel document, whichever is earlier. If the foreign national is exempt from the travel document requirement (for example, they are a United States citizen), the work permit should be issued for the full duration of the offer of employment. Refer to Validity period for work permits. |
| Conditions | Officers should ensure that instructions provided in Medical conditions to be imposed for open employers but occupation-restricted work permits are followed. |
| Fees | Work permit processing fee: $155 Employer compliance fee: $230 Biometric fee (if applicable): $85 Note: Cultural agreement applications are fee-exempt under code E04. |
| Biometrics | Work permit applicants are required to provide their biometrics. The regular biometric exemptions apply (for example, under 14 years or 1 in 10 rule). |
Refusal
If an officer is not satisfied that all the requirements of section R200 (including the paragraph R205(b) assessment) are met, they must record their reasons and outline the rationale underlying the decision, as well as the facts and information considered, in a case note.
Refusal reasons should clearly indicate which criteria or what requirements of section R200 were not met and explain how the conclusion was reached. For assistance, officers can follow the steps in Decision making: Standard of review and process for making a reasonable decision.
If evidence of reciprocity is not submitted to the satisfaction of the officer, the work permit may be refused, or the applicant may be notified that an LMIA must be obtained for further consideration of a work permit.
Renewals
Applicants may be eligible for an employer-specific work permit renewal if they receive an offer of employment and if they meet the eligibility requirements of this category.
Family members
Family members of high-skilled workers are eligible to apply for an open work permit under subparagraph R205(c)(ii). Refer to