Foreign nationals nominated by a province – Provincial agreements [R204(c) – T13] – Agreements and arrangements – International Mobility Program

The instructions on this page should be reviewed in conjunction with

• Employer-specific work permits with Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) exemptions
• Conditions and validity period on work permits
• Public list of Employers who have been non-compliant

For more information on the permanent residence process for provincial nominees, see Provincial Nominee Program (PNP).

In this situation, “province” legally refers to provinces and territories. Therefore, in these instructions, when “province” is used, it refers to both provinces and territories.

A person may be issued a work permit without requiring an LMIA, if they have a valid nomination from a province (other than Quebec) for permanent residence and a job offer from an employer based in that province. Work permit applications that include a valid nomination from a province or territory are processed under paragraph 204(c) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations using the administrative LMIA exemption code T13.

For Quebec cases, the legislative authority for the LMIA exemption is paragraph R205(a). For further information, see Quebec cases.

On this page

• General eligibility
• Documentary evidence
  • Expired nomination
• Work permit issuance in GCMS
• Work permit extension
• Open work permit for spouses and common-law partners

General eligibility

To be eligible for a work permit as a nominee, foreign nationals must

• have a valid nomination from a province (other than Quebec) for permanent residence or proof that their application for permanent residence was submitted prior to expiry of the nomination
• have an LMIA-exempt offer of employment from an employer based in the nominating province
  • The employer submitted the offer in the Employer Portal and is subject to the employer compliance regime.
• have a provincial support letter indicating the urgent requirement for the foreign national to begin the job prior to permanent residence

Documentary evidence

The application for the work permit must include the following:

• an LMIA-exempt offer of employment submitted in the Employer Portal (or through an alternate submission if it was approved) and proof the employer has paid the employer compliance fee
• a copy of the confirmation of nomination letter from the provincial government that verifies that the foreign national has been nominated for permanent residence by the province
  • Officers should not request the nomination certificate as provincial nominees are not issued a copy
• a statement from the province that it has determined that all factors required for the issuance of a work permit under paragraph R204(c) as per its agreement with Canada have been met
  • The required factors include
    • that the nominated individual is urgently required by the provincial-based employer
    • that the job offer is genuine and will create economic benefits or opportunities
    • that the employment is not part-time or seasonal
    • that the wages and working conditions of the employment would be sufficient to attract and retain Canadian citizens or permanent residents

Applications that do not include the requested information will be refused since they do not meet the eligibility requirements under R204(c); they would require a LMIA. If an officer is not satisfied that the applicant is able to perform the work stated in the job offer, the officer is prohibited from issuing a work permit under R200(3)(a).

Expired nomination

If the nomination is expired, the foreign national must include a copy of the acknowledgement of receipt letter with their work permit application confirming that IRCC has received the PNP permanent residence application before the nomination expired.

Officers must verify that the PNP application is in the Global Case Management System (GCMS), or go through the Permanent Resident Digital Intake tool or the Centralized Intake Office (CIO) in Sydney if the permanent resident application is not in GCMS to ensure that the nomination has not been withdrawn by the province and that no adverse information is found regarding the file.

Questions regarding nominations should be referred to the CIO in Sydney.

Work permit issuance in GCMS

Under the Application screen enter the following:

Work permit extension

Where the nomination letter issued by the province indicates that the employment is restricted to a specific employer, the nominee is not eligible to apply for a bridging open work permit. They are allowed to apply for another employer-specific work permit.

Same employer: Nominees applying to extend their work permit for the same employer do not require proof of nomination if they have submitted a permanent residence application prior to the expiry of their confirmation of nomination. They will require a new offer of employment. Officers should follow the same processing instructions as for the initial work permit.

New employer: Nominees applying under the administrative code T13 for a new employer require a new offer of employment and a new support letter from the province or territory of nomination. They do not need a new confirmation of nomination if they have submitted an application for permanent residence before their nomination expired. Officers should follow the same processing instructions as for the initial work permit.

No permanent residence application: Nominees whose confirmation of nomination has expired and who have not submitted an application for permanent residence require a new nomination certificate to extend their work permit.

Open work permit for spouses and common-law partners

The spouse or common-law partner of a principal foreign national who has been nominated by a province is eligible to apply for a LMIA-exempt open work permit under administrative code C41.