How much time in advance should I start the invitation process?
In most cases, you should contact your administrator聽3 to聽6 months before the expected date of arrival聽of the trainee. It takes time to verify the trainee鈥檚 eligibility, process their enrolment, issue the proper invitation letters, and for their work permit and/or visa application to be processed.
For trainees applying for a work permit in Nigeria, Singapore, Thailand, Pakistan, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, you should contact your administrator聽6 to 12 months before the expected date of arrival聽of your trainee.
You can contact your administrator earlier to verify whether the traineeship will be possible.
How can I know if a traineeship will be possible?
- The trainee will need to meet the聽requirements to be enrolled as a research trainee.
- The situation will need to correspond to either a work permit exemption or to an LMIA-exempt work permit. Some situations are more straightforward than others and some simply do not correspond to any exemption category.
- There needs to be enough time for the immigration application to be processed.
Common straightforward situations for research trainees
The following is a brief summary of the most common, straightforward situations for research trainees in terms of immigration. There are other categories allowing a research trainee to come to Canada. In every case, please contact your administrator to verify eligibility before issuing an invitation.
No work permit required
- Trainees who will do research for a period of up to 120 days. They must have a significant role to play or value to add to the project. This exemption can only be used once per year.
Work permit
- Trainees from any country coming with their own academic research award
- American, Mexican or Chilean citizens who hold a baccalaureate degree
- Citizens from certain countries participating in the聽International Coop聽program through International Experience Canada. The trainee should verify beforehand that
- they meet聽聽(these criteria vary according to country of citizenship) AND
- there are聽聽in the program (there is a specific number of spots awarded yearly to each country 鈥� once those spots are taken, it will not be possible to come through that program)
What do I need to provide to my administrator?
- 罢丑别听
Request for Immigration Assessment filled out by you and the research trainee - The trainee will also need to submit documents required for Enrollment as a Research Trainee:
Do I need to pay the $230聽Employer Compliance Fee?
Unless a work permit exemption applies, you are required to pay the Employer Compliance Fee.
Can the trainee reimburse me for the Employer Compliance Fee?
No, the fee must be paid by the employer.
I won鈥檛 be paying the trainee, is a work permit really necessary?
Most research trainees need a work permit, even if they do not receive any financial compensation from 平特五不中. While there are some situations where a work permit will not be needed, you administrator will first need to verify whether that is the case.
Last updated: 2017-09-28
If you have any questions or require any further information, please contact the Faculty of Science's Immigration Advisor.