Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has a Labour Market Impact Assessment (“LMIA“) exemption for post-doctoral fellows awarded a Doctorate of Philosophy and research award recipients. The advantage of such an exemption is that a person can obtain a work permit without the need of the prospective employer to first test the Canadian labour market.
Post-doctoral fellows holding a Ph.D. or its equivalent
To qualify for a work permit under this LMIA exemption, the prospective foreign worker must:
- have completed, or be expecting to complete shortly, their doctorate;
- be working in a field related to that in which they earned, or are earning, their Ph.D.;
- be the direct recipient of the award involving work and remuneration;
- actively contribute to and benefit a Canadian research project;
- demonstrate academic excellence or expertise in a field related to the particular work to be undertaken;
- be working in a time-limited position that reflects the experience and expertise of the applicant and the role that they will play on the project;
- have a significant role to play or value to add to the research project.
- hold an official position or an affiliation or registration with a credible academic or educational institution or agency in their country of citizenship or residence.
The post-doctoral fellows can either be the direct recipients of theaward or be offered a time-limited position to undertake research on behalf of or as part of a team of researchers.
Awards
In order for a person to receive a work permit based on an award, the prospective foreign worker must have received an award that was:
- given based on merit and academic excellence;
- based on the result of a competitive assessment and review process.
- not be primarily for recruitment or commercial purposes
The employer must be a credible Canadian academic or educational institution or agency, or a closely affiliated organisation
Approval Rates
As can be seen in the table below, the approval rate for these types of work permits is very high, and is typically over 95%.
