Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC“) has released Operational Bulletin 503 – Clarification of Volunteering in Relation to Farm Work (“OB-503“). The Temporary Foreign Worker Manual provides that if a tourist wishes to stay on a family farm and work part time just for room and board for a short period then this is not considered work, and a work permit is not required. Work on a farm that is expected to last beyond four weeks, however, requires a work permit. OB-503 elaborates on this. It specifies that the volunteering on the farm must be incidental to the reason the individual seeks to enter Canada. Farm work cannot be the main reason for entering Canada. An individual must have other plans for the majority of their time in Canada (such as tourism, visiting family, visiting friends, etc.) It also specifies that if the foreign national seeks to volunteer at a commercial farm, than a work permit is required. A commercial farm is a commercial venture undertaken with the expectation of profit. A non-commercial farm generally means a farm where the farm family provides much of the capital and labour for the farm, and where the production of agricultural products is to provide for … Read More