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Professionals - CPAFTA [R204(a) – F42] – Agreements or arrangements – 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 “officers” refers to employees of both Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency.

The instructions on this page should be reviewed in conjunction with:

Chapter 13 of the Canada-Panama Free Trade Agreement (CPAFTA) facilitates entry to Canada for citizens and permanent residents of Panama who intend to engage in a business activity in Canada at the professional level in an occupation set out in Appendix 13.04-D. As such, work permit applications under this category are assessed under paragraph 204(a) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR). This regulatory section falls under the International Mobility Program (IMP).

Professionals can also be authorized to enter Canada as business visitors (General Service provision of Appendix 13.04-A of the CPFTA under R186(a) when they are not seeking to enter the labour market (meet criteria applicable to business visitors) but will be performing activities such as soliciting business, consulting, providing advice and meeting clients.

See Business visitors – CPAFTA [R186(a)] – Authorization to work without a work permit – International Mobility Program for more information.

On this page

Eligibility

To be eligible for a work permit in the professional category, a foreign national must:

Documentary evidence

A foreign national must provide sufficient documentary evidence to satisfy an officer that they are eligible for entry.

The following documents are required:

Place of application

Foreign nationals who are exempt from the requirement for a temporary resident visa may apply for a work permit at the port of entry, as well as foreign nationals who otherwise meet the requirements of R198. For more information, see: Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and International Mobility Program (IMP): Persons who may apply at a port of entry.

Foreign nationals may apply for a work permit from within Canada if they meet the conditions set out in section R199 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.

Application Assessment

Review of the offer of employment

When assessing if the work permit application meets the requirements of the CPAFTA, officers should review the offer of employment that appears under the Employment Details tab in the Global Case Management System (GCMS) for information provided by the employer or the matching fields on the IMM 5802 form (if the employer was authorized to use it).

Field Considerations
LMIA Exemption Code

F42 – CPFTA – R204(a) - Professionals
Requirements Exemptions Met

Information in this field outlines how the job and the foreign national meet the regulatory and trade agreement requirements, including that the applicant

  • will work in a TEER 0 or 1 occupation (or NOC 0 or A occupation)
  • has an occupation that is included in the List of eligible professions under the CPAFTA Professionals category
  • has a post-secondary credential of 4 or more years of study
  • has the minimum educational and work experience requirements of their TEER category and occupation
  • has the required licence or certification if their occupation is regulated in the province or territory of destination
NOC and Job Title

Ensure that the occupational code and title are in the appropriate TEER for the occupation capacity.
Duration

3 year maximum on initial document
Employer

Does the offer of employment provide confirmation of the pre-arranged employment?

Is the proposed employer in Canada?

Does the offer of employment give accurate details of the profession for which entry is sought:

  • title
  • duties
  • duration of employment
  • arrangements as to payment?
Duties and Job Requirements

These are the activities that the foreign national will be performing.

  • Do they align with the occupation?
  • Are there specific requirements that align with the professional category of the applicant?
  • Does the employer require more than the minimum amount of paid work experience?
Wages

Note: A mandatory wage assessment is not required for applicants under this category. However, for these applicants, wage remains an important indicator of the knowledge and expertise expected at the professional level and should be taken into account as an important factor in an officer’s overall assessment, although officers should not refuse an application based on the wage alone.

There is no requirement that the foreign national be paid by the Canadian enterprise or in Canadian dollars.
Minimum Education Requirements

Do the educational requirements outlined in the offer of employment align with the minimum education requirements of the professional category?

Are there additional or alternative requirements for this occupation defined in the NOC?
Other Training Required

The employer may indicate specialty training as a requirement.
Provincial/Federal Certification, Licensing or Registration

The employer should list any specific certification, licensing or registration required in Canada.

Documented evidence should be provided with the application if the occupation is regulated by the province or territory; however, some occupations may require the foreign national to write an exam after they enter Canada, for example, for a licence from a regulated body or a first aid certificate.

Refer to Employer-specific work permits – General processing – International Mobility Program for further guidance.

Pre-arranged employment

In this context, the Canadian employer may be an enterprise or an individual. The following are some examples of pre-arranged employment:

Important: The professionals category does not allow self-employment in Canada (i.e., soliciting business in the Canadian labour market). However, a Panamanian citizen or permanent resident who is self-employed outside Canada is not barred from the professional category, provided the services to be rendered in Canada are pre-arranged with a Canadian employer.

Self-employment

If the Canadian enterprise is substantially controlled by the applicant, it is considered to be self-employment. For example, if the Canadian enterprise offering the employment is a sole proprietorship operated by the applicant, then entry cannot be granted under the professionals category. Additionally, if the Canadian enterprise is legally distinct from the applicant, for example, a legal corporate entity but the entity is substantially controlled by the applicant, entry as a professional must also be refused.

In order to determine if an enterprise is substantially controlled, the following factors must be taken into account:

When a professional applies for a renewal of a work permit, the following activities may indicate that the applicant has been self-employed in Canada:

The following activities do not constitute self-employment:

Occupational qualifications

A professional must be entering Canada to provide professional level services in a eligible occupation for which they are qualified. In making this determination, both the qualification of the individual and the position in Canada must be considered.

For regulated professions, the officer must be satisfied that the professional has or can obtain the necessary licensing so that the applicant may perform the work sought.

In instances where a baccalaureate degree is required, the degree must be in the specific field or in a closely related field. Baccalaureate degrees (or licenciatura) need not have been obtained in colleges or universities in Panama or Canada, whereas post secondary diplomas or certificates should have been earned in one of the two countries.

It is possible for a professional to be working in Canada on more than one contract at a time. A work permit must be issued for each individual contract.

Training

Professionals with a valid work permit can provide training related to their profession, including conducting seminars.

The training session must be pre-arranged with a Canadian employer and the subject matter must be at the professional level. Entry does not allow seminar leaders to engage in training that is not pre-arranged with a Canadian employer.

The training must form part of the professional training or development of the participants and must be related to their job duties.

Eligible professions

Appendix 13.04-D of the CPAFTA is the mechanism by which selected professionals can enter Canada to provide their services. See further below for the complete list of eligible professions under the CPAFTA Professionals category.

The Appendix is a complete list of occupations that cannot be interpreted. If an occupation does not appear on the list, it is not a profession as defined under the Professionals category of the of the CPAFTA.

Note: Officers should allow for alternative job titles in instances where the job duties are interchangeable. This can be confirmed by referring to the National Occupational Classification (NOC).

Note: In the instances when the listed Panamanian and Canadian educational requirements differ, for entry into Canada, the Canadian educational requirements shall be deemed to be met whenever the Panamanian professional has met the Panamanian educational requirements and the Canadian client or employer has provided a letter indicating that the Panamanian professional’s qualifications are satisfactory.

Final decision

Approval

The work permit will be issued under the authority of paragraph R204(a).

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 IMP offer of employment. This information is under the Employment Details – LMIA-exempt tab.

If there is more than one location, officers should enter the primary location in the “Province of destination” field and the secondary location in the “User remarks” field.
City of destination

The city of destination entered by the applicant should match the address of employment in the IMP offer of employment. This information is under the Employment Details – LMIA-exempt tab.

If there is more than one location, officers should enter “Unknown” in the “City of destination” field and “As per the offer” in the “User remarks” field.
Exemption code

F42 – CPAFTA – R204(a) - Professionals

This code is auto-populated from the IMP offer of employment.
NOC

The NOC code is auto-populated from the IMP offer of employment.
Intended occupation

Job title

This is auto-populated from the IMP offer of employment.
LMIA/LMIA-exempt #

“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.
Employer

Business operating name
Duration

Officers may issue a work permit that is valid for the duration of the offer of employment or until the expiry of the travel document, whichever is earlier.

Refer to Validity period for work permits.

Note: If the employer is authorized to use an IMM 5802 form instead of completing the offer of employment through the Employer Portal, please see Employer-specific work permits – General processing – International Mobility Program.

Refusal

If an officer is not satisfied that all the requirements of R200, including the assessment under R204(a), are met, they must record their reasons and outline the rationale underlying the decision as well as the facts and elements considered. They must also provide an explanation for the decision in a case note.

A decision is reasonable and therefore defendable when another person is able to trace the decision maker’s reasoning, without encountering fatal flaws in the overarching logic, and is satisfied that there is a line of analysis within the given reasons that could reasonably lead the tribunal from the evidence before it to the decision maker’s conclusion.

The officer needs to engage with the documentary evidence that was provided by the applicant. Simply stating “I have reviewed the submissions and I am not satisfied that R204 is met” is not sufficient for the another reasonable person to understand the logic of the decision without reviewing all of the evidence again.

Refusal reasons should clearly indicate which criteria or what requirement of R200 was 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.

Refusal grounds in the GCMS

The GCMS has standard text for refusal grounds. Officers should ensure that the refusal grounds selected for the refusal letter match the reasons that they have stated in their case note.

If an officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the applicant is not able to perform the work sought, they should select the paragraph “R200(3)(a) You were not able to demonstrate that you will be able to adequately perform the work you seek.” Officers should ensure that they clearly indicate in their refusal notes why they are not satisfied.

Given that there is no specific refusal ground for FTA categories in GCMS for when a officer is not satisfied that the criteria has been met, they should select the refusal ground “Other” and add a short explanation in the Comments field that they are not satisfied that section R200 or paragraph R204(a) are met.

Length of stay

Initial work permits can be granted for a duration of up to 3 years.

Extensions can also be issued in increments of up to 3 years with no limit on the number of extensions providing the individual continues to comply with the requirements for professionals.

Officers must be satisfied that the employment is still “temporary” and that the foreign national is not using the CPAFTA as a means of circumventing normal immigration procedures.

List of eligible professions under the CPAFTA Professionals category

General

Computer and Information Systems

Science

Page details

2025-01-03