Entering Canada before official start date of job using work permit

[oliverw]

Hi all,

I've recently been offered a job working in Toronto for which I've already applied for a (LMIA-exempt) work permit from the UK. The contract starts May 1st. Assuming I get the permit approved (fingers crossed!) I was wondering what date I'll be able to enter the country.

Ideally I'd be able to arrive a week or so beforehand to start looking for a place to live etc without having to deal with a full time job at the same time.

Does anybody know what leeway a work permit has on entering a country prior to starting a job? If possible I'd rather avoid entering early as a tourist then having to cross the border to USA briefly to reenter on a work permit!

Many thanks in advance,
Olly

 

[Gregor.Samsa]

Hi all,

I've recently been offered a job working in Toronto for which I've already applied for a (LMIA-exempt) work permit from the UK. The contract starts May 1st. Assuming I get the permit approved (fingers crossed!) I was wondering what date I'll be able to enter the country.

Ideally I'd be able to arrive a week or so beforehand to start looking for a place to live etc without having to deal with a full time job at the same time.

Does anybody know what leeway a work permit has on entering a country prior to starting a job? If possible I'd rather avoid entering early as a tourist then having to cross the border to USA briefly to reenter on a work permit!

Many thanks in advance,
Olly

As per my experience, as soon you get your application approved you can go to Canada. Work Permit will be issued at the port of entry based on your acceptance letter.

Be aware of expire date for your entry to Canada.
I know friends rejected at the border for this reason (they received the acceptance letter too close to LMIA expiring date, flying to Canada after that).

Arrive a week in advance is a good idea, I arrived 1.5 weeks before that

 

[TheMaze]

I just tot a (NAFTA) work permit a bit over a month before my job start date. The officer was happy to issue the permit for that date (he said he could not issue it in the future) and did not seem concerned at all that the start date was about a month out. I then spent the weekend in Canada, though as a US citizen, I don't normally need to get a special visa just to come to Canada (not sure if you guys in the UK do), but the way it was treated made it seem like the timeline was a non-issue.

 

[Francy89]

Hello!

Maybe you can help solving my doubt: I applied for a LMIA-exempt work permit and received the approval letter to show at the border. The starting date of the work permit is not specified, will it be the day of my arrival to Canada or the date of the contract I received?

Thank you for your help!
Francesca

 

[Grug]

I'm sorry, it still seems a little unclear to me. If you get a positive LMIA and it then takes 5 weeks to process the work permit, can I enter Canada during the 5 week period to get myself setup and then jump over the US border to get the work permit issued when approved?