Vol. 149, No. 13 — July 1, 2015

Registration

SOR/2015-147 June 12, 2015

IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEE PROTECTION ACT

Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations

P.C. 2015-807 June 11, 2015

Whereas, pursuant to subsection 5(2) (see footnote a) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (see footnote b), the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration has caused a copy of the proposed Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, substantially in the annexed form, to be laid before each House of Parliament;

Therefore, His Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, pursuant to subsection 5(1) and section 32 (see footnote c) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (see footnote d), makes the annexed Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.

REGULATIONS AMENDING THE IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEE PROTECTION REGULATIONS

AMENDMENTS

1. The Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (see footnote 1) are amended by replacing “opinion” with “assessment” in the following provisions:

COMING INTO FORCE

2. These Regulations come into force on the day on which sections 307 and 310 of the Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 2, chapter 39 of the Statutes of Canada, 2014, come into force, but if they are registered after that day, they come into force on the day on which they are registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Regulations.)

Issues

The Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations refer to Employment and Social Development Canada’s (ESDC) authority to issue an “opinion” regarding the likely effect the employment of a foreign national would have on the Canadian labour market and did not align with changes announced on June 20, 2014, that renamed the Labour Market Opinion (LMO) the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA).

Background

The Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) enables employers to hire foreign workers as a last resort to meet their short-term labour and skills needs when qualified Canadian citizens or permanent residents are not available. It is jointly managed by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC), under the authority of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR). In addition, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) assesses admissibility and program requirements, and, acting on behalf of CIC, determines whether to issue work permits at ports of entry.

ESDC is responsible for processing employer-submitted applications and undertaking an assessment on whether the employment of a foreign national is likely to have a neutral or positive effect on the Canadian labour market. These assessments were previously known as Labour Market Opinions (LMO), but on June 20, 2014, the Government of Canada announced reforms to the TFWP, including renaming the LMO the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA).

The reforms announced in June 2014 also included various policy changes that impact the assessment of LMIA applications. For example, employers must submit additional information such as a detailed description of their recruitment activities, the number of Canadians/permanent residents who have applied for the position for which a LMIA is requested and the reasons for not hiring those Canadians/permanent residents. Renaming the LMO to LMIA reflects policy changes that strengthened the assessment of the impact employment of a foreign national would have on the Canadian labour market.

Objective

ESDC has aligned the language in the IRPR with recently announced TFWP reforms by making minor technical amendments to replace all references to ESDC’s “opinion” regarding the likely effect employment of a foreign national would have on the Canadian labour market with “assessment.” These amendments ensure consistency with amendments to the IRPA in the Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 2, which received royal assent on December 16, 2014.

Description

The amendments replace all references respecting ESDC’s “opinion” regarding the likely effect the employment of a foreign national would have on the Canadian labour market in the IRPR with “assessment.”

“One-for-One” Rule

The “One-for-One” Rule does not apply to these amendments, as there is no change in administrative costs to business.

Small business lens

The small business lens does not apply to these amendments, as there are no costs to small business.

Consultation

Since the June 20, 2014, TFWP reforms were announced, including renaming the LMO to the LMIA, there has been no reaction from the public on this change.

Rationale

The amendments update the wording of the IRPR to align the regulations with statutory amendments and program changes that have already been announced. Given the technical nature of this proposal, there are no impacts on the public or on users of the program (benefits or costs); as a result, minimal stakeholder reaction is expected.

ESDC and CIC are updating all relevant websites, application forms and communications materials by replacing “Labour Market Opinion (LMO)” with “Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA).” The negligible incremental costs associated with this exercise are being absorbed by both departments.

Corresponding statutory amendments in Bill C-43, Economic Action Plan Act 2014, No. 2 that replace all ESDC-related references to “opinion” with “assessment” in the IRPA received royal assent on December 16, 2014.

Contact

Colin Spencer James
140 Promenade du Portage, Phase IV
Gatineau, Québec
K1A 0J9
Email: colin.s.james@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca