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The Global Talent Stream. You’ve heard of it, but what is it about? Is it just for IT occupations? Not anymore! How fast is it? Do you need an LMIA or recruitment efforts like job posts from the employer side in Canada? What are the criteria and how can you utilize it as a Canadian employer or highly skilled foreign applicant who is being hired by a Canadian company?
You should already know that occupations in TV and Movie production, Digital Media, Creative design, video game designers and visual effects, all types of occupations in IT such as web and software developers, and even engineering occupations in mining, civil, electrical, and aerospace are eligible under this stream.
In this article we will go over the latest updates to this program which you need to know for 2023. Our office has been handling these types of applications for many of the Canadian companies hiring highly skilled talent from overseas. This is a Federal program across Canada – with no restrictions – even possible in Quebec.
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The Global Talent Stream – it’s a sub-stream of the Global Skills Strategy (GSS). It is an employer-driven program that allows Canadian companies to bring in highly skilled foreign workers for their business on a fast-track basis.
Let’s start with the basics:
There are two methods to become eligible to apply under the Global Talent Stream as a Canadian employer. Remember, unless you have a Canadian employer offering you a job in an eligible occupation under this program, you cannot apply for it on your own as a foreign applicant.
The Canadian employer can either be referred by a designated organization in Canada to Service Canada’s office which handles the Global Talent Stream or also choose to apply on their own without a referral.
There are 52 designated organizations on the government website link which include municipalities, local economic departments, incubators, regional investment offices, and more. If you are referred by one of these organizations, you can hire any highly skilled talent with specialized knowledge without any occupation restrictions. Now let’s say you don’t want to deal with the government referral and just want to hire somebody from overseas to fill a position, that’s possible too. There is a specific occupation list you can select from to initiate the process – no designated organization is required for this category.
If you are not being referred by a designated organization, you can hire anyone with the skills in the following occupations, which also include non-IT occupations as the latest changes were announced at the end of 2022:
There are 3 categories of occupations: purely IT, digital media designers, and occupations in visual effects and video games, as well as new engineering occupations which have recently been added to the eligible list.
IT occupations:
1: Computer and IT system managers: NOC code 20012.
2: Computer Engineers: NOC code 21311.
3: Mathematicians & Statisticians (except for actuarial occupations): NOC code 21210.
4: Information System Analysts & Consultants: NOC codes 21211 Data scientists , 21220 Cybersecurity specialists, 21221, Business system specialists, 21222 Information systems specialists, 21233 Web designers.
5: Database analysts and data administrators: NOC code 21211 and 21223.
6: Software engineers and designers: NOC code 21231.
7: Computer programmers and Interactive Media Developers: NOC code 21230 Computer systems developers and programmers, 21232 Software developers and programmers, 21234 Web developers and programmers.
8: Web Designers & Developers: NOC code 21233 and 21234.
9: Computer Network Technicians: NOC code 22220.
10: Information systems testing technicians: 22222.
Visual Effects and Digital Media occupations:
1: Producer, technical, creative and artistic director and project manager – Visual effects and video game: NOC code 51120
2: Digital media designers: NOC code 52120
Engineering Occupations:
1: Civil Engineers: NOC code 21300.
2: Electrical and Electronics Engineers: NOC code 21310.
3: Mining Engineers: NOC code 21330.
4: Aerospace Engineers: NOC code 21390.
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Here is what you need to know as an employer or for your Canadian employer if you’re the overseas applicant being hired:
* Although recruitment efforts or job posts are not mandatory under this stream, having an ongoing job advertisement on your website or maybe another third-party website is always recommended.
* The job offer should be the median wage for the specific occupation, based on Service Canada’s job bank wage rate for each specific province & region.
* The application forms should be completed (all online) with business legitimacy documents if you have not previously applied for any LMIA programs in the past 6 years.
* A Labour Market Benefit Plan should be prepared and included in your application which we will cover later in this video.
* The employer must pay a non-refundable fee of $1000 to Service Canada for processing this application.
* The final decision is made by Service Canada’s Global Talent Stream office and sent to you and your representative by email.
* The final step is to link your approval to the foreign worker to apply for their work permit in case their name was not mentioned on the original application.
You may ask, is this an LMIA stream? The answer is yes, the Global Talent Stream is an LMIA stream, but very different from the regular LMIA programs. It is the fastest LMIA stream possible.
Instead of a Labour Market Impact Assessment, what the Service Canada office requests from you is a Labour Market Benefit Plan. What this basically means is that they know it’s difficult and sometimes impossible to hire these highly skilled occupations from inside Canada, hence the focus is not on the Canadian employer’s recruitment efforts, but rather want to see how hiring a highly skilled foreign worker will benefit Canadians and specifically your existing workforce.
To clarify, if you were referred by a designated organization to hire any occupation which is highly skilled or has specialized knowledge, then you will need to include 1 mandatory benefit of hiring a Canadian or permanent resident, with 2 complimentary benefits. If you were not referred by a designated organization, and you stick to the approved occupation list we just reviewed, then you will be required to commit to 1 mandatory benefit and 2 complimentary benefits.
These labour market benefits are commitments you as the Canadian employer will be making to Service Canada based on the duration of the work contract of the foreign worker. These commitments will be documented in your initial Global Talent Stream application and will be monitored and reviewed after a minimum of 1 year by their office.
You will need to document and have reports/progress available on these benefits that will be provided to the Canadian workforce in return for hiring a highly skilled foreign worker under the fast-track Global Talent Stream.
If you were not referred by a designated organization, your mandatory benefit has to help increase skills and training investments for Canadians and PRs.
Examples of this can include: mentoring programs from senior staff for junior staff or interns, paying for specialized skills training for your staff to attend, or having in-house training for some of your staff in a specific subject. It can also include subsidizing education or skills training for your Canadian workforce.
The 2 complimentary benefits which are required for anyone who is applying under this stream require 1 activity under each of these complimentary benefits that can include examples such as: hiring more Canadians, offering paid internship or coop opportunities for Canadians, maybe offering additional services or facilities to your existing staff such as upgrading a kitchen facility in your work area, setting up work out or gym sessions, sending the staff for events, expanding your business/revenue through specific actions, offering additional medical insurance for your staff, more vacation or rest time for staff, promotions, or even upgrading specific facilities at your work site. Another example could be offering inclusion & diversity training by certified organizations to come into your office and offer this type of specialized programs.
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* The processing time is approx. 10 to 14 business days to issue a decision on your application as a Canadian employer. This is significantly faster than any other LMIA base stream which can take up to 60 days.
* Your application is first received and processed in Ottawa in the main office for the Global Talent Stream, then it is passed and approved to a Service Canada officer in your specific province who will continue the processing and arrange an interview call with the employer before a decision is issued. The main discussion will be about the Labour Market Benefit Plan with the employer.
* After the application is issued, your foreign worker can be processed for a work permit within 14 business days as part of the Global Talent Stream (a sub-stream of the Global Skills Strategy). As you may already know, work permits from overseas embassies can take 3 to 5 months in certain cases. Under this program, your foreign worker is fast-tracked and there is a special push through the embassy to process it within 2-3 weeks in the worst-case scenario.
* You can hire as many foreign workers as you can financially support and as long as you can meet and implement the labour market benefits.
* There is no limit on the number of applicants you can hire.
* You will need to make sure the foreign worker has immediate insurance upon arrival by the province, otherwise during that gap you will need to provide private medical insurance until the provincial insurance kicks in (in most provinces this is immediate).
* You will need to keep all records and documents of this application and hiring of the temporary foreign worker.
* You will need to make sure your work environment is free of any abuse.
* Work environment needs to be safe.
* You will need to adhere to the foreign worker’s employment contract in meeting all your obligations as an employer in the hours, wages, etc.
* All federal and provincial employment regulations will still be in effect even if you hire a foreign worker.
* Service Canada can audit and inspect your site at any time to check for violations.
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A few key facts that most people don’t know about applications under the Global Talent Stream:
* You can apply with no specific name of a foreign worker on your application in case you don’t know whom you want to hire yet, or you want to keep all your options open until the processing is completed.
* There is no minimum revenue requirement, payroll requirement, or duration of being in business to be eligible for the Global Talent Stream as a Canadian employer. However, you need to provide proof of your financial capacity and we recommend at least 6 months of operations with proof of financials in case you are a brand-new startup.
* If you are planning to promote or upgrade any facilities or benefits for your existing Canadian staff, or even planning to hire, you can incorporate these into your Global Talent Stream Labour Market Benefit Plan even if it wasn’t specifically related to hiring a foreigner. So this means, you were going to upgrade something or hire somebody no matter what, but you will include that in your application so you don’t have to come up with ‘new’ activities just for the sake of hiring this highly skilled foreigner.
* This is not an LMIA-exempt stream, but obviously much faster and requires different criteria to be eligible and approved. An LMIA number is issued if a positive decision is made on your Global Talent Stream application.
* Even if you are approved for a Global Talent Stream LMIA application, your foreign worker could be refused if they do not meet the work experience criteria for the specific occupation and NOC code for which you are offering them a job as a Canadian employer.
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