Substantially the Same, or STS, is an assessment of whether an employer has provided its other foreign workers wages, working conditions and employment in occupations that were substantially the same as those items set out in the employer’s job offer during the period beginning two years prior to an Application for a Labour Market Opinion or a Work Permit. If there has been a failure to comply with a previous job offer term, employers will be given an opportunity to justify any discrepancies. Reasonable justifications include: A change in federal/provincial/territorial law or a change to a collective agreement; Changes the employer had to make in the workplace in response to a dramatic change in economic conditions that were not directed disproportionately at foreign workers; An error made in good faith by the employer in interpreting obligations regarding wages, working conditions or occupation, and the employer has provided or made sufficient efforts to provide compensation to any foreign nationals that have suffered a disadvantage; An administrative accounting error by the employer, and the employer has provided or made sufficient efforts to provide compensation to any foreign nationals that have suffered a disadvantage; or Circumstances similar to those set out above. Employers … Read More
Section 10 of the Employment Standards Act
Section 10 of the ESA provides that a person must not request, charge or receive, directly or indirectly, from a person seeking employment a payment for employing or obtaining employment for the person seeking employment, or providing information about employers seeking employees. Immigration practitioners, who are frequently asked to assist people in finding jobs, must ensure that they do not contravene s. 10 of the ESA.
Information Technology Workers to British Columbia
CIC has announced a change in the salary range for BC and Quebec companies wishing to hire foreign workers in the IT sector. A work permit will not be issued unless the prospective foreign worker’s salary is in line with the following salary ranges:
Income Tax Statements and Inadmissibility
On December 8, 2010, the Federal Court released its decision in Masych v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2010 FC 1253 (“Masych“) The case involved an individual whose work permit application was denied because she did not produce income tax statements from 2002-2006 after an immigration officer (the “Officer”) requested that she do so. The reason that the Officer wanted copies of her tax statements was not to confirm her employment history for determining whether or not she was qualified for the job that she was applying for, but rather to determine whether or not she was inadmissible for having ever committed tax evasion. The applicant had never been convicted of a criminal offense. No evidence was ever presented that she had been charged with a criminal offense. Finally, it is important to note that the applicant lived in the United Kingdom from 2002-2006, a country with a legal system similar to Canada’s. The applicant did not produce the income tax statements as requested, and her application was rejected on the grounds that the Officer was unable to determine whether or not she was inadmissible to Canada for having committed an offense abroad that would constitute an indictable offense in Canada (tax … Read More
From Working Holiday Program to Permanent Residence
When an individual under the Working Holiday Program wants to become a permanent resident.
Changes To Temporary Foreign Worker Program
On April 1, 2011, new regulatory changes came into effect that will significantly impact temporary foreign workers and the companies that want to hire them. If you are an employer who currently employs or is interested in employing temporary foreign workers then you need to be aware of these changes. The changes include: Assessing the genuineness of a Temporary Foreign Worker; Live-in-Caregiver Changes; The Employer Blacklist; Time limits for temporary foreign workers; and Labour Market Opinion Changes. Establishing a set of factors to guide the assessment of the genuineness of an employer’s offer of employment to a temporary foreign worker. The changes introduce a new s. 200(5) of the Regulations, which reads: Genuineness of job offer (5) A determination of whether an offer of employment is genuine shall be based on the following factors: (a) whether the offer is made by an employer, other than an employer of a live-in caregiver, that is actively engaged in the business in respect of which the offer is made; (b) whether the offer is consistent with the reasonable employment needs of the employer; (c) whether the terms of the offer are terms that the employer is reasonably able to fulfill; and (d) the … Read More