volunteering while PR visa processes

[Kferg]

My partner's PR visa and work permit are processing right now but he's getting a little bit of cabin fever sitting around the house all the time.

Is it possible for him to volunteer while waiting? I know that the rules changed recently and read somewhere that the volunteer position can't be one that a Canadian/student would do as part of their practicum...Does anyone have any other info?

Thanks.

 

[kcward7]

My partner's PR visa and work permit are processing right now but he's getting a little bit of cabin fever sitting around the house all the time.

Is it possible for him to volunteer while waiting? I know that the rules changed recently and read somewhere that the volunteer position can't be one that a Canadian/student would do as part of their practicum...Does anyone have any other info?

Thanks.

My understanding is that they can't volunteer in a position that someone else could be compensated to do, but I could be getting that wrong.

 

[Kferg]

My understanding is that they can't volunteer in a position that someone else could be compensated to do, but I could be getting that wrong.

For example, if all the workers (except management?) are there on a voluntary basis?

 

[Wonderland_1010]

For example, if all the workers (except management?) are there on a voluntary basis?

This is a bit of a grey area. Usually IRCC see that a person is volunteering in a position where they can be paid for then its considered illegal. If your partner wants to volunteer, he should look into organization such as :

Examples of activities for which a person would not normally be remunerated or which would not compete directly with Canadian citizens or permanent residents in the Canadian labour market and which would normally be part-time or incidental to the reason that the person is in Canada include, but are not limited to:

• volunteer work for which a person would not normally be remunerated, such as sitting on the board of a charity or religious institution; being a 'big brother' or 'big sister' to a child; being on the telephone line at a rape crisis centre (normally this activity would be part time and incidental to the main reason that a person is in Canada);
• unremunerated help by a friend or family member during a visit, such as a mother assisting a daughter with childcare, or an uncle helping his nephew build his own cottage;
• long distance (by telephone or Internet) work done by a temporary resident whose employer is outside Canada and who is remunerated from outside Canada;
• self-employment where the work to be done would have no real impact on the labour market, nor really provide an opportunity for Canadians. Examples include a U.S. farmer crossing the border to work on fields that he owns, or a miner coming to work on his own claim;
• short-term educational exchanges by high school students through international arrangements, such as the Regional Joint Cooperation Commission between Atlantic Canada and the archipelago of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/temporary-residents/foreign-workers/what-is-work.html

 

[canuck_in_uk]

For example, if all the workers (except management?) are there on a voluntary basis?

That sounds fine. A good rule of thumb is that if there are Canadians in the same volunteer position, it's fine.

 

[canuck78]

Weird because grandparents helping with childcare is usually something that CIC focuses on as a no-no although most supervisa grandparents due some or a lot of the childcare.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

Weird because grandparents helping with childcare is usually something that CIC focuses on as a no-no although most supervisa grandparents due some or a lot of the childcare.

Why do you think that is weird? The grandparents are taking a paid position away from a daycare/babysitter/etc. It is not volunteering.

 

[canuck78]

Why do you think that is weird? The grandparents are taking a paid position away from a daycare/babysitter/etc. It is not volunteering.

No I feel that it's weird that it is listed as a volunteer option in the publication stated above.

 

[canuck_in_uk]

No I feel that it's weird that it is listed as a volunteer option in the publication stated above.

Ah, ok. The caveat being that the visit is the primary propose and helping short-term is fine. Most of the time, the parent is coming for as long as possible with the primary purpose of helping with childcare.

 

[canuck78]

Ah, ok. The caveat being that the visit is the primary propose and helping short-term is fine. Most of the time, the parent is coming for as long as possible with the primary purpose of helping with childcare.

Given that this issue causes so much confusion, partially for cultural reasons, probably wasn't the best example.