If you are not a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, you must get a work permit in order to lawfully work in Canada.
In general, before coming to Canada, you must apply for a work permit from Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) or a Canadian visa office. These work permissions are required:
Before you apply, you must have an employment offer from a Canadian business.
The company must apply to Employment and Social Development Canada for a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) (ESDC).
ESDC will determine whether or not the company may engage a foreign worker to fill the position.
Certain types of employees need particular work permissions. There are, for example, unique work permit schemes for carers, company owners, and agricultural employees.
More information may be found on the IRCC website under Working Temporarily in Canada.
If You Reside in Canada
You may be able to apply for a specific sort of work visa if you are already in Canada.
More information may be found under Eligibility to Apply from Within Canada.
Temporary Work Permits
A work permit cannot be used to come to Canada. See whether you qualify to apply as a skilled worker if you want to come to Canada as a permanent residence based on your job abilities and experience.
Is it possible for me to become a permanent resident?
Temporary foreign employees may seek for permanent residency via the following programs:
Class for Canadian Experience (CEC)
Opportunities Ontario: Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) Caregiver Program - Please be aware that the Caregiver program will be changing in 2019. We will update this when new information becomes available.
To apply for these programs, you must first satisfy the qualifying conditions.
You may also apply as a skilled worker, but there is no separate category for temporary foreign employees within the skilled worker class.