Rail grinder operators, rail welders or other specialized track maintenance workers - Unique work situations - 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 Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency.
The instructions on this page should be reviewed in conjunction with
- Employer-specific work permits - General processing - International Mobility Program
- Assessing genuineness of the offer of employment on a work permit application – R200(5)
- Conditions and validity period on work permits
- Public list of Employers who have been non-compliant
The Department uses specific administrative codes to identify certain situations where it considers that the work of a foreign national would create significant social, cultural or economic benefits or opportunities for Canadian citizens or permanent residents, as described in R205(a). The considerations for each code demonstrate how the situation may meet the requirements of R205(a). In addition, officers must always be satisfied that all requirements of R200 are met.
The administrative code C10 is the code under which the work of certain foreign nationals entering Canada seeking to work as rail grinder operators per National Occupation Code (NOC) 74200, rail welders (per NOC 72106), or other specialized track maintenance equipment operators may be eligible for exemptions from the labour market impact assessment (LMIA) requirement pursuant to R205(a). The foreign nationals seeking to work as rail grinder operators (per National Occupation Code [NOC] 74200), rail welders (per NOC 72106), or other specialized track maintenance equipment operators may be eligible for exemptions from the labour market impact assessment (LMIA) requirement pursuant to R205(a) (exemption code C10).
On this page
Eligibility
Eligibility for this work permit category is based on the following considerations:
- whether the foreign national is coming to operate imported machinery which is crucial for performing the duties of a rail grinder operator, rail welder or other worker of specialized rail maintenance equipment
- the length of time the machinery is needed in Canada
- an International Mobility Program (IMP) offer of employment was submitted prior to the work permit application indicating that the imported machinery is not available in Canada
Documentary Evidence
With the application for a work permit, officers should be satisfied that they have the following documentary evidence to make an assessment:
- IMP offer of employment with Employer Compliance fee payment
- evidence that the machinery is specialized in nature and not available in Canada
- evidence of a contract between a Canadian and foreign company for the services of the machinery
Application Assessment
When assessing whether the work permit application meets the requirements of paragraph R205(a) in order to determine if they are satisfied that the work of a foreign national will create or maintain social, cultural or economic benefits or opportunities for Canadians or permanent residents, the officer should review all evidence provided by the applicant and the fields under the Employment Details tab in the Global Case Management System (GCMS) for information provided by the employer.
| Field | Considerations |
|---|---|
| Requirements exemptions met | Information in this field outlines how the job position or the foreign national meets the LMIA exemption requirements. Specifically, machinery required for these services is not available in Canada and must therefore be brought into Canada from a foreign country, and the foreign national is already trained to operate this equipment. This should not be a cut and paste from IRCC’s website. |
| Duration | Is the duration the period of time that the machinery is in Canada or the entire length of the rail maintenance contract? This category is only for foreign nationals required in Canada to operate the machinery for short periods of time. |
| Duties | These are the activities that the foreign national will be performing. Do they align with the significant benefit and the occupation? Will the foreign national’s duties be for the express and exclusive purpose of operating the imported machinery for the length of time required for providing rail track maintenance? |
| Job requirements | Are there specific requirements that align with the benefit? Proof of cultural status, experience needed for the benefit, etc. |
| Minimum education requirements | Are the educational requirements compatible with the stated significant benefit outlined in the offer of employment? The client’s education may have some bearing on whether the client meets the job requirements; however, its relative weight may be less if the client’s work experience is sufficient. |
Specific Situations
Machines imported for durations exceeding one month
Canadian companies may contract foreign companies to perform rail maintenance for a period of time which may extend to a year or longer. However, while the contract may be valid for one or more years, the machines are often only brought into Canada for weeks at a time to complete grinding or welding activities on Canadian rail lines before they are returned to their country of origin until they are needed in Canada once more. Therefore, the length of the contract between the Canadian rail company and the foreign machine service provider may not be reflective of the actual time the machine is in Canada.
In cases where the machine is in Canada on a sporadic basis, for days or for three to four weeks at a time over the period of the contract validity, foreign nationals may be issued a work permit in order to operate the machine due to their specialized knowledge and no training required. If, however, the machine is imported into Canada and remains in Canada for a continuous period exceeding one month, the benefit of having a foreign national with no requirement for training no longer applies, and the foreign machine owner should normally undergo the LMIA process for an assessment of whether a Canadian is available to operate the machine on this ongoing basis.
Work permit category only applies to machine operators
Foreign nationals coming to install, repair, maintain or uninstall rail grinder, rail welder or other rail maintenance machinery are not covered through this category but may qualify for a different work permit category.
Approval
The work permit will be issued under the authority of R200(1)(c)(ii.1) / R205(a).
In the Global Case Management System (GCMS), under the Application screen, officers should enter the information below in the specified fields.
| Field | Selection or input |
|---|---|
| Case type | 52 – Employer-specific LMIA-exempt applications |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Exemption code | C10 This code is auto-populated from the IMP offer of employment. This code should only be changed in specific circumstances. For further instruction, see: Changes between the offer of employment and the work permit application. |
| NOC | Rail grinder operators - 74200 Rail welders – 72106 Other specialized track maintenance equipment operators under a different NOC may be eligible for exemptions from the LMIA 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. 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 |
| Processing fees | $155 work permit processing fee |
| Biometrics | Work permit applicants are required to provide biometric information and pay the biometric fee – $85 The regular biometric exemptions apply (for example, under 14 or 1 in 10 rule). |
Refusal
If an officer determines that the applicant does not meet the eligibility requirements, they should record their refusal reasons in a case note, outlining the rationale for the decision, as well as the facts and elements that were considered.