Exeo Attorneys | Immigration U.S. & Canada – Special Bulletin, September 2022

Ottawa to drop health measures for incoming travellers

As of September 30, mandatory vaccinations for travellers entering Canada, random airport testing and mandatory use of the ArriveCAN application will be dropped. The government announcement will be made on Monday.

The issue of wearing masks on aircrafts or trains is also under review and more information will likely be announced by the Prime Minister on Monday.

New regulations are set to come into force on September 26, 2022, enhancing the employer compliance regime of the International Mobility Program. These are all applications for closed work permits with Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA):

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has set new requirements and conditions that employers hiring under the International Mobility Program (IMP) must meet:

• On or before the first day of work, provide the Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) with information about their rights in Canada
• During the period of employment, make available to the TFW information about their rights in Canada
• Provide a signed employment agreement to the TFW
• Provide a workplace that is free of abuse including reprisal
• Not charge or recover, directly or indirectly, from the TFW any fees related to recruitment either before or during the period of employment. Employers also must ensure that any person acting on their behalf has not and will not charged or recovered such fees
• Provide access to health care services when the TFW is injured or becomes ill at the workplace

Here are some elements that employers must take into account before submitting information to the Employer Portal (EP), when submitting the information in the EP and during the period of employment:

Before entering information into the Employer Portal

• Ensure that you (the employer) have provided to the foreign worker a copy of the employment agreement that is signed by the worker and the employer and has the information on occupation, wages and working conditions that the employer will then enter into the Employer Portal under “offer of employment”;
• Ensure that you (the employer) have not charged any fees related to recruitment.
• Ensure that any recruiter you have used to find a foreign worker has not and will not charge fees related to recruitment.

In the Employer Portal

• Ensure the information you provide in the Employer Portal on occupation, wages and working conditions under offer of employment matches the information in the signed employment agreement;
• Read and agree to the three new attestations (employment agreement and fees related to recruitment).

During the Period of Employment

• Ensure you have provided workers with information on workers rights before the first day of work or on the first day of work at the latest;
• Post the information on workers rights (Get to know your rights) in an accessible location for workers;
• Do not charge or recover from the foreign national fees related to the recruitment of the foreign national (including the Employer Compliance Fee), nor use a recruiter/third party that does this;
• Ensure workers have access to health care if the worker is injured or becomes ill at the workplace;
• Retain documents such as a record of providing information on workers rights to the worker and the signed employment agreement as these could be required during an inspection.

Compliments of EXEO Attorneys – a member of the EACCNY.