How to get workers from the United States with criminal records into Canada in a hurry in fulfillment of a contract with a Canadian company?

If the criminal record is limited to one, or in some cases, two “minor criminal” offenses, then border officers of CBSA have the jurisdiction to issue temporary resident permits in conjunction with work permits to nationals of visa exempt countries. A minor criminal offence is defined under section 36(2) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act to include a conviction outside Canada that, if committed in Canada, would constitute an indictable offence, or of two offences not arising out of a single occurrence that, if committed in Canada would constitute summary offences. Impaired driving, or Driving Under the Influence (DUI), as it is called in most US states, falls within the category of minor criminal offence and as such can be temporarily “cured” by the issuance of a TRP at a border crossing.

Recently, we assisted a number of US steel workers in obtaining work permits into Canada and, for three of the workers, Temporary Resident Permits. The work permits were based on labour market opinions obtained without the need to advertise for the positions. The workers fell within a category of highly specialized technicians, having proprietary knowledge, experience and tools to perform the work and to oversee Canadians doing the work. Given the specialized nature of their work, no advertising or recruitment was required.

In addition, a very tight time table existed for the commencement of the project in Canada. As such, the application for the labour market opinions (LMOs) were expedited and obtained in under seven business days. The work permits and TRPs were issued at the Canada / US border in under an hour.

In the case of one of the US workers, although he had a criminal record, he qualified for rehabilitation as it had been over 5 years since his last conviction. A TRP was issued to allow him into Canada, but he was required to undertake to file a rehabilitation application within 30 days. Given the closing of the Canadian visa office in Buffalo, these applications can be submitted at the Windsor CBSA office on the Canada/US border. It takes approximately two months for a decision.