Industry
Guide

Retention

…organizational policies and practices designed to meet the diverse needs of employees, and create an environment that encourages employees to remain employed.¹

Retention of foreign workers is the responsibility of both the employer and employee. In order to make it happen, a number of federal and provincial governments help to facilitate the process. The Retention process includes:

• identifying a continued need for the worker;
• re-recruiting for Canadian workers;
• applying for an LMO extension (employer);
• applying for a work permit extension (worker); and
• exploring options for permanent immigration.

Employers hiring TFWs make a considerable investment. It costs between Cdn $12,000 and $18,000 per worker, and takes between six and 18 months of planning and other activities. Employers using TFWs to meet their workforce needs will want to put as much effort into retaining these workers as they did into finding them in the first place.

By virtue of how the LMO is constructed, workers are restricted in where they can work, and who they can work for. However, as long as an approved LMO is in place and the worker’s work permit is revised to reflect a new job site, there is nothing to prevent a TFW from leaving one employer and going to work for another. The best way to prevent this is to ensure that you put the same effort into retaining your foreign worker as you do all of your other employees. (See the FAQ section for more information about workers changing job sites.)

Labour Market Opinions (LMOs), work permits, visas and passports are all time-limited. Employers and TFWs need to be aware of when these documents expire and plan next steps well before the completion of the current contract. While only some of these documents are the employer’s responsibility, some employers have found it beneficial to track all of the necessary renewals and assist their employees to keep their papers in order.

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There are basically two options for retaining TFWs: (1) applying for a new LMO for the current TFW, and (2) permanent immigration. The decision as to which option to pursue will be a combination of what an individual worker desires and qualifies for, the employer’s changing labour force requirements, and the broader economic context in which the company is operating.

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Applying for a new LMO for current TFWs

If the employer and the worker decide to apply for a new LMO they will follow the same process as the one completed in the original application. (See Job Analysis for more details on this process.) The employer must meet all requirements for hiring a TFW and provide proof of past compliance. To establish proof of past compliance, payroll records and other employment information are reviewed by HRSDC/Service Canada to ensure that the employer has met the terms of previous offers of employment. (See the Job Analysis section for guidance on recruiting in Canada.) Once these obligations are fulfilled, the employer can complete the new LMO application.

For skilled workers (NOC A, B and O), if the new LMO is authorized, then the employee needs to apply for a work permit extension through an inland office of the Canadian Border Services Agency. The inland office is there for people who are already in the country. There is no requirement for the worker to leave and return. In fact it is best for the person to remain in Canada. This is why the application goes to the "inland office" instead of the visa office. There is also no set limit on the length or number of work permit extensions, but the LMO is always based on the current availability of Canadian workers. As such, two years is a common (maximum) length of time for a LMO.

Workers in occupations requiring lower levels of formal education (NOC C and D) can work a maximum of two years in Canada. Following this period, they must return to their country of origin for at least four months, after which they may re-apply for another work permit.

For specific details on how your worker applies for a work permit extension, see the Citizenship and Immigration guide Applying to Change Conditions or Extend Your Stay in Canada – Worker, which is available on their website.

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Permanent immigration

Permanent immigration provides employers and workers with more flexibility because TFWs are restricted by the conditions outlined in the Labour Market Opinion (i.e., job duties and work sites). However, the process for obtaining permanent immigration status is longer than simply extending the LMO and work permit, though an extension to the LMO and work permit may be necessary while the employer and employee explore more permanent alternatives (as described above).

Canada has a number of options for permanent immigration. The majority of them have processing times that do not easily facilitate workers remaining in Canada. One program being used by some employers in the construction industry is the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). At present, the PNP has a much shorter processing time than other permanent immigration options, but procedures for nominating workers vary from province to province.

Another option is for the worker to apply for permanent residency while in Canada working under a temporary work permit. The application will require the employer’s offer of a permanent job (known as arranged employment), but they must still go through the skilled worker process. 

If an employer wishes to explore permanent immigration with their worker, the Citizenship and Immigration Canada online reference tool You asked about …immigration and citizenship is a good place to find the information you require. The HRSDC website also has some information for employers supporting immigration of skilled workers.

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Variations in the process

Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) – PNPs are established through an immigration agreement between the Government of Canada (via CIC) and the individual province or territory. Each province has the right to negotiate its own priorities and categories for application to the PNP. All provinces and the Yukon have a PNP; Ontario’s pilot program is the most recently established.

Employers will want to be sure to verify what they need to do, and if their employee qualifies. In some provinces, only skilled workers qualify for the PNP. The programs in Alberta and Ontario are employer-driven, and both include options for skilled and unskilled workers. "Employer-driven" means that the worker must already have an offer of a permanent job from a Canadian employer. Typically the employer must apply first, and if an employer is accepted, the worker can then apply. In BC, the employer and worker submit a joint application. In other provinces, such as Manitoba, the program has a broader range of options for nomination, including an employer-supported option. For links to all of the PNPs, see the CIC website.

Quebec-selected skilled workers have a different process to follow. It is not employer based, and allows the Quebec government to establish its own immigration requirements and select immigrants using provincial selection criteria. Workers in Quebec will need to apply for a Certificat de sélection du Québec prior to applying through CIC.To find out more about the Quebec skilled worker program, see the Québec-Immigration website.

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⁶ http://www.hrdirectory.org/hr-glossary.php.

This page last updated December 2009