Global Skills Strategy for workers: Get faster processing

Key benefits

If you’re eligible for the Global Skills Strategy (GSS), you may benefit from

• faster processing for work permits, whether the job is LMIA-required or LMIA-exempt
• faster processing for your accompanying family members

Type of work permit you need

You must meet the general eligibility criteria for GSS.

Your work permit can either be

• LMIA-required or
• LMIA-exempt

Answer a few questions about yourself and your job to find out

• the requirements for your work permit
• any special instructions you may need for your application, along with the instructions to follow to get 2-week GSS processing

Find out what type of work permit you need (opens in a new tab) 

When you apply for your work permit

When you fill out the eligibility questionnaire in the online account, you’ll be asked questions about you, accompanying family members and what you’re applying for.

If you’re applying for an LMIA-required job, you must answer the following question as shown below to be flagged for GSS processing:

• Answer “yes” when asked “Did Employment and Social Development Canada issue your employer’s Labour Market Impact Assessment under the Global Talent Stream?”
• Make sure you apply as soon as you receive your LMIA decision letter to avoid delays.

If you’re applying for an LMIA-exempt job, there are no GSS-specific questions to flag your application. Your application will automatically be flagged in our system as being eligible for GSS if you meet the eligibility criteria.

There may be other special instructions depending on the type of work permit you’re applying for. Make sure you know these instructions so that your application is complete when you apply.

Give your biometrics within 2 weeks

Not everyone needs to give biometrics. If you do, you’ll pay the biometrics fee (starting at $85 a person) when you apply. We’ll issue a biometric instruction letter (BIL) when we check if your application is complete. You must submit your biometrics within 2 weeks of getting your BIL to get faster processing.

If you have valid biometrics, you don’t need to give them again.

If you need to give your biometrics and you don’t submit them within 2 weeks, you aren’t eligible for GSS.

Find out if you need to give biometrics. (opens in a new tab) 

If your biometrics are valid but will expire soon

We can’t issue a visa or permit past the expiry date of your biometrics, so if they’re going to expire soon, you should pay the fee when you apply and give them again.

If you include family members in your application

To qualify for 2-week processing, all family members must

• apply at the same time as you
• submit a complete application
  • An application is “complete” if all family members have submitted all the required forms, including, but not limited to
    • upfront medical exam results
    • visa office requirements
    • the biometrics fee payment (if needed)
• give their biometrics within 2 weeks of getting their biometric instruction letter

If your family member is missing documents or tries to apply after you, they’re not eligible under GSS.

Submit a complete application

Your application must be complete to get 2-week processing. This means that when you submit your application, you must include, for you and for any family members in your application, all the forms and documents listed in the document checklist in your online account.

When you apply, you must also pay all applicable fees, including the biometrics fee, for you and family members.

If you don’t submit a complete application, there will be delays.

GSS workers who don’t need a work permit

Some highly skilled workers and researchers don’t need a work permit to work in Canada. If you meet all the eligibility criteria, you can come to Canada quickly and start working without a work permit.

Highly skilled workers

To work without a work permit in Canada, you must meet both of these requirements:

• work in a job classified under Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities (TEER) category 0 or 1 in the National Occupational Classification (NOC) system
• work for only one of the following short periods of time:
  • up to 15 consecutive days once every 6 months
  • up to 30 consecutive days once every 12 months

Researchers

To work without a work permit in Canada, you must meet both of these requirements:

• do research at a Canadian, publicly funded, degree-granting institution or its affiliated research institution
• work for 1 period of 120 days in Canada once every 12 months

When you arrive in Canada

When you arrive at the Canadian border, you must prove to the border services officer that you meet the eligibility criteria listed above. You can use your job offer or contract from your Canadian employer as proof of your eligibility as long as it contains the following information:

• the details of the work you’ll do
• the NOC code and job title of the intended occupation
• the period of employment (start date and end date)

If the officer is convinced that you’re eligible, they’ll issue you a visitor record.

The remarks section of your visitor record must indicate that you’re “authorized to work”.

If you’re not issued a visitor record that includes that remark, you can’t

• get a social insurance number from Service Canada
• get paid by your employer

A visitor record is different from a visitor visa. A visitor record is a document that a border services officer gives you at a port of entry, and it tells you when you must leave Canada. You can’t apply for it ahead of time. If you plan to stay in Canada for longer than 6 months, you must tell the border services officer this fact when you arrive at the border.

Extending your stay

You must stop working when your exemption ends. To work in Canada again, you have 2 options:

• apply for a work permit from outside the country
• wait until you’re once again eligible to use the short-term work permit exemption

Waiting time between work permit exemptions

The wait time between work permit exemptions depends on the length of the next exemption you want to use.

After using any of the short-term exemptions, you must wait

• 6 months before you can use a 15-day exemption
• 12 months before you can use a 30- or 120-day exemption

For example, if you entered Canada using the 15-day work permit exemption, you must wait at least 6 months before you can use the 15-day exemption again.