Welcome to the Guberman // Appleby Immigration Update. We hope you find the information provided relevant to your immigration needs. Our objective is to highlight recent updates in immigration that are of interest to our readers. If you have questions about how these changes impact you, we invite you to contact our Canadian immigration lawyers for tailored guidance.
Opportunities Under the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)
As Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney continues his global tour and unveils numerous new partnerships and initiatives between Canada and other countries including Australia and Japan, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) offers companies significant opportunities to capitalise on these partnerships, particularly with respect to Canadian work permits for citizens of member countries. Both Australia and Japan are signatories to the CPTPP.
Canada New Partnerships and Initiatives
During his recent visit to Australia, Mark Carney and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a series of bilateral initiatives designed to deepen strategic and economic cooperation between Canada and Australia. Central among these is enhanced collaboration on critical minerals, which is intended to strengthen secure supply chains. The two governments also launched a clean energy partnership, announced expanded defense collaboration, and committed to measures promoting cross-border investment including work toward modernizing the bilateral tax treaty and strengthening institutional investor collaboration.
Similarly, during his official visit to Japan, Mark Carney and Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi concluded a new comprehensive strategic partnership intended to deepen economic and security cooperation between Canada and Japan across several priority sectors. The agreement includes expanded defense collaboration, advanced energy cooperation, and commitments to modernizing bilateral trade mechanisms and deploying new trade missions and business partnerships between the two economies.
As a result of these agreements, many companies are anticipating increased reliance on high-skilled Australian and Japanese workers and the need to access their skills and abilities in Canada for which work permits are required.
Work Permit Opportunities Through the CPTPP
Under the CPTPP there are many options for Australian and Japanese temporary foreign workers to come to Canada.
Professional Work Permit Under CPTPP
Firstly, under the CPTPP there is the highly flexible professional work permit category. This allows citizens of seven CPTPP countries including Australia, Japan, and Mexico to apply for a work permit provided that they have a four-year degree, a job offer in a high skilled position in Canada, have two years of experience, meet the typical requirements of their occupation, and do not fall into a limited list of excluded occupations. This allows many companies that may wish to capitalize on these new trade agreements to facilitate cross border trade with minimal impairments to accessing the right talent with the right skills. For instance, if an Australian mining company wished to transfer a geologist to Canada to capitalize on the country’s new collaboration on critical minerals, this work permit would offer a consistent and renewable path to do so. Another scenario could be that a Japanese company may wish to expand its semiconductor business into Canada and this work permit would allow them to send any manager or engineer to facilitate cross border expansion and trade.
Technician Work Permits Under CPTPP
Like the professional work permit, the CPTPP also provides for work permits for technicians in specific occupations. To qualify for these work permits, applicants from countries such as Australia and Japan must have a two-year post-secondary degree, four years of experience, an offer in an eligible occupation, and meet the general requirements for the occupation. For instance, if an Australian company wished to capitalize on Canada and Australia’s new clean energy partnership, they would be able to send industrial and electrical technicians to Canada on these work permits to develop their company’s presence in North America.
Intra-Company Transferee Work Permits Under CPTPP
An additional benefit of the CPTPP is that member nations can also get intra-company transferees work permits to transfer employees between CPTPP member nations and Canada without the need to demonstrate that the company has operations in a third country, as is required in the general Intra-Company Transfer guidelines. This allows companies to transfer executive, managerial, and specialist employees who have at least one year of tenure in their home country to Canada for a three-year work permit that can be renewed up to a maximum stay of five years for specialists and seven years for managers and executives.
Investor Work Permit Under CPTPP
A final work permit option that is available under the CPTPP is the investor work permit. This allows investors that have committed a substantial amount into an existing or new Canadian company to get a one-year, extendable work permit for themselves to oversee said company or for a managerial, executive, or essential employee. For an example of how this category works, it would allow an Australian to invest into a Canadian company, perhaps under one of the newly announced initiatives, and then come into Canada to oversee and manage said company.
Through flexible work permit categories the CPTPP helps companies move key talent across borders more efficiently. This labour mobility framework enables organizations to quickly deploy expertise where it is needed, allowing them to capitalize on new trade opportunities, strengthen partnerships, and support the implementation of emerging initiatives between Canada and other CPTPP member countries.
Contact Our Toronto Immigration Lawyers
If you have any questions regarding whether you or your employee may be eligible under one of the pathways described above we welcome you to contact us directly. Please contact one of our Toronto immigration lawyers, by reaching out to our general line 416-548-7100 or via email info@gaimmlaw.com. Our immigration lawyers are always available to discuss any of your specific Canadian or US immigration queries either virtually or in person. We look forward to hearing from you.
