
LMIA-Exempt Work Permits (IMP)
Canada has signed bilateral and multilateral Free Trade Agreements in order to provide the best possible environment for Canadian firms to compete globally. (FTA). Most free trade agreements (FTAs) to which Canada has agreed include provisions that make it simpler for temporary business travellers to visit Canada. Foreign employees who qualify under an FTA must get a work permit in order to work in Canada, however they are exempt from completing a Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), making the process of obtaining a work permit easy, inexpensive, and quick. The Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA) is Canada’s largest FTA, and it is comparable to a number of other FTAs: The CETA (Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement), as well as FTAs with Chile, Peru, Columbia, and Korea, are all similar to CUSMA in that they all grant temporary entry to four types of businesspeople: business visitors, professionals, intra-company transferees, and traders and investors.