HIRING FOREIGN ACADEMICS IN CANADA

Foreign Worker Quick Links: Foreign Worker Home Page - Hiring Temporary Foreign Workers in Canada - Hiring Temporary Foreign Workers in Quebec - Hiring Skilled Workers and Supporting their permanent immigration - Service Canada Centres - FWP Forms - Academics - Seasonal Agriculture - Film and Entertainment - Information Technology - Live-in-caregivers - Pilot project for NOC C and D occupations - Ontario FW Home page

Employing foreign academics can help degree-granting post-secondary educational institutions in Canada meet their staffing and teaching needs and attract new knowledge and expertise to Canadian campuses.

Special hiring criteria have been developed by Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC) and Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) in cooperation with universities, degree-granting colleges, and unions representing Canadian academics. These criteria are designed to take into account the career development and employment of Canadian academics.

CRITERIA :

Before a degree-granting educational institution can hire a foreign academic for a position in Canada, it must:

• Advertise vacant positions in Canada;
• Make sure any vacant position advertised abroad is also advertised simultaneously in Canada;
• Advertise for a reasonable length of time (about a month) to allow broad exposure of the vacancy to Canadians and permanent residents;
• Demonstrate that the advertising medium used - web, print or electronic - is effective in attracting appropriate candidates for the position;
• Include in the advertisement this statement: "All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply; however Canadians and permanent residents will be given priority;"
• Meet all conditions of applicable collective agreements;
• Complete the Foreign Academic Recruitment Summary outlining the educational institution's hiring decision and providing summaries of Canadian applicants verified by the vice-president (academic) or other senior academic official of the educational institution.
• Be prepared to complete a yearly summary report on recruitment practices for Canadian academics and results.

HIRING STEPS :

Educational institutions hiring foreign academics for Canadian positions must :

1. Submit an HRSDC Foreign Worker Application for a labour market opinion (LMO) and the Foreign Academic Recruitment Summary to the Service Canada Centre responsible for your area.
   • Learn more about the HRSDC LMO assessment criteria noting that a Quebec Acceptance Certificate (QAC) issued by the province is also required for jobs in Quebec
   
   
   
2. Once HRSDC has approved your job offer, send a copy of the HRSDC confirmation letter to the foreign academic.
   
   
3. Tell the foreign academic to apply for a work permit  from CIC.

   Next, CIC decides whether the foreign academic will get a work permit according to the requirements to work and reside temporarily in Canada.

ACADEMIC EXEMPTIONS : Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), a variety of foreign academics are exempt from some or all of the hiring steps : Learn about academic exemptions. Learn about the Canada Research Chairs Program Also, please note that the process outlined above does not apply to community colleges unless they are affiliated with a university and their students can obtain degrees, nor does it apply to the Collèges d'enseignement général et professionnel (Cégep) in Quebec. For these institutions, the regular process for hiring foreign workers applies.