Canada Global Talent Stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program

There are two requirements to hire a foreign worker under Category B of the Global Talent Stream:

1) An occupation/position must be listed on the Global Talent Occupations List under Category B. No referral is required for Category B because domestic labour supply in these occupations is in short supply/demand.

2) Canadian employers must offer the hourly prevailing wage rate at a minimum. The prevailing wage is defined as the highest of either: the regional median hourly wage posted on Job Bank, the wage that is within the wage range that company is paying current employees hired for the same job and work location and with the same skills and years of experience.

• NOC 0213 – Computer and information systems managers (prevailing wage)
• NOC 2147 – Computer engineers (except software engineers and designers) (prevailing wage)
• NOC 2161 – Mathematicians and statisticians (except actuaries or related occupations) (prevailing wage)
• NOC 2171 – Information systems analysts and consultants (prevailing wage)
• NOC 2172 – Database analysts and data administrators (prevailing wage)
• NOC 2173 – Software engineers and designers (prevailing wage)
• NOC 2174 – Computer programmers and interactive media developers (prevailing wage)
• NOC 2175 – Web designers and developers (prevailing wage)
• NOC 2281 – Computer network technicians (C$39.42 or higher prevailing wage)
• NOC 2283 – Information systems testing technicians (C$38.46 or higher prevailing wage)
• NOC 5131 – Producer, technical, creative and artistic director and project manager – Visual effects and video game (C$37.50 or higher prevailing wage, 3 years of experience)
• NOC 5241 – Digital media designers (C$38.46 or higher prevailing wage, 3 years of experience)

Coming to work in Canada through the Global Talent Stream program involves two stages.

Canadian company must identify and offer a job to a foreign national. Canadian employer must first apply for LMIA under Global Talent Stream to ESDC [Department of Employment and Social Development Canada]/Service Canada.

Contingent on confirmation by ESDC/Service Canada, a foreign worker must apply for an LMIA-based work permit to IRCC [Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada].

There is no dedicated portal to search for jobs in Canada under the Global Talent Stream. Neither there is a list of companies. However, innovative Canadian companies typically offer jobs under GTS Program either for unique and specialized positions or in-demand high-skill occupations in the IT sector. If you are a foreign national with the right skills, you can do your search and apply to qualified positions on various job search portals, including Job Bank. Particularly, it is easier to find and apply for IT jobs using Global Talent Stream Canada. Global Talent Stream jobs list (Occupations List under Category B, see above) can serve as a guideline for qualified occupations in the software and information technology industries.

Once a Canadian employer identified qualified foreign national and made a job offer, the first step would be to apply for a labour market impact assessment to ESDC/Service Canada using Global Talent Stream LMIA Application Form.

Compared to a regular LMIA, Global Talent Stream LMIA does not require a Canadian employer to make advertisement/recruitment efforts before offering a foreign national job.

All employers applying under Global Talent Stream for the first time must complete Mandatory Labour Market Benefit and Complementary Labour Market Benefits Plans. These are the benefits that will be achieved by hiring a temporary foreign worker under the GTS Program — for example, committing to increasing job creation or increasing skills and training investments for Canadians/permanent residents.

One of the significant benefits of hiring qualified foreign nationals through Global Talent Stream is expedited service for LMIA and Work Permit applications. Compared to a regular LMIA’s processing time (from two to six months), Global Talent Stream LMIA’s processing time is 10-business days.

A foreign national applying for a Work Permit under Global Talent Stream will qualify for 2-week processing under Global Skills Strategy. To be eligible for expedited processing, they need to apply from outside Canada and provide a positive LMIA decision letter obtained by Canadian employer through the Global Talent Stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

Overall, hiring through Canada GTS Program may take around one month, which is reasonably fast.

One year of work experience in Canada on a Global Talent Stream Work Permit makes a temporary foreign worker eligible for immigration under the Canadian Experience Class program through Express Entry.

In some cases, a temporary foreign worker may gain an additional 50 or 200 CRS points for a valid job offer obtained through the Global Talent Stream program.