Once upon a time, Canadian work permit applicants used to enjoy two-week processing time under the Global Skills Strategy (GSS). On June 27, Immigration, Refugees & Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced the return of the GSS Processing Standard. 

The two-week (14 day) processing standard will soon be returning in (2) types of situations: 

1. When an applicant first obtains a Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), under the Global Talent Stream (GTS) and then applies for a work permit through a Visa Post abroad; or
2. When an applicant applies for an Employer Specific work permit under the International Mobility Program (IMP) with a National Occupational Classification (NOC) under Training, Education, Experience and Responsibility (TEER) category 0 or 1.

Immigration documents for accompanying dependents who are applying at the same time as the principal applicant will also be processed on an expedited basis. 

For applications to benefit from the GSS processing standards, all program criteria must be met, and applications must be complete at the time of filing, with medicals and police clearance certificates (when required) provided up front. It is also important to note that no application will be finalized until Biometrics are completed, and this should be done as soon as possible after the biometrics requests are issued.

Given this important development, we have reason to be optimistic about improved processing times ahead. 

For more information, please contact a member of the MT>iplus team.