April 25, 2012

Accelerated Labour Market Opinion Initiative!

Posted by admin - Bellissimo Law Group PC

Just announced by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC):

Effective April 25, 2012, HRSDC/Service Canada is implementing a new Accelerated Labour Market Opinion (A-LMO) Initiative. This new Initiative applies to employers hiring temporary foreign workers in higher skilled positions such as: management, professional and technical occupations.

The 2 main objectives of the new A-LMO Initiative are:

improving the integrity of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and labour market outcomes;
responding to the employers’ need for more efficient and timely LMO processing.

To be eligible to participate in the A-LMO Initiative, employers must:

have been issued at least 1 positive LMO in the previous 2 years;
have a clean record of compliance with the Program within the last 2 years;
not have been the subject of an investigation, infraction or a serious complaint; and
not have any unresolved violations or contraventions under provincial laws governing employment and recruitment.

This new A-LMO Initiative introduces efficiency measures by reducing the amount of paper-burden on employers in the application process, and by introducing attestations for specific assessment criteria that can be reviewed through a subsequent compliance review. In addition to the attestation-based assessment, HRSDC/Service Canada will provide an A-LMO based on:

the genuineness of the job offer;
the wage offered to the temporary foreign worker;
whether the job offer is likely to fill a labour shortage.

If the employer is deemed eligible, HRSDC/Service Canada will issue an opinion, within 10 business days, based on the employer’s agreement to follow the necessary Program requirements and the A-LMO assessment criteria. In addition, employers ma

Please be advised that at the present time, the Initiative does not apply to the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, the Agricultural Stream and occupations in the film and entertainment sectors.
The Initiative is currently not implemented in the province of Quebec.

LMO, Temporary Foreign Worker, work permit