The COVID-19 pandemic brings many questions and concerns with respect to the future of Temporary Foreign Workers in Canada. One question everyone is asking is – what are the impacts from Covid-19 on immigration?
Many questions have been raised when it comes to how an employer and a TET can comply with the current health safety measures imposed by the Government and still be eligible to, for example, a PEQ Worker.
For the PEQ Worker program, a TET needs to obtain 12 months of full-time employment, among other requirements. The question that remains is, if a temporary worker is confined at home and is unable to work full-time, with or without a salary, will this time count towards the 12-month full-time employment requirement?
The Ministère de L’Immigration, Francisation et Intégration is yet to clarify this impasse. However, they have already provided answers to TET’s most asked questions. The MIFI explains that the 12 months of full-time work experience does not have to be acquired consecutively. Therefore, TET’s have 24 months to accumulate the 12 months of experience required. Which leads us to conclude that if the TET experiences a “pause” in their full-time employment due to COVID-19, once the TET resumes his activities the time counting will also resume and once the TET combined the 12 months of full-time work experience he will be able to submit his application for selection through the PEQ.
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However, what happens if a TET loses his job due to COVID-19 before he was able to acquire the 12-month work experience? First and foremost, being employed when applying for the PEQ is also a requirement. Therefore, the TET will be able to apply for the PEQ once he resumed employment and have completed the remainder of the months necessary of work experience to qualify to the program.
The issue many TET’s will face with this new reality is that some of them are in Quebec with a closed work permit, which means it is employer specific. A TET who just lost their job with an employer specific work permit, will have to undergo the entire recruitment, LMIA and work permit process before he is able to work for a new employer and be able to continue to count work experience time towards his dream to immigrate to Quebec.
If you are a TET and lost your job due to COVID-19 or are confined with or without receiving a salary, at Spunt & Carin we can answer your questions and help you plan for the future to ensure your status in Canada is maintained.
