Hi,
My PR card expired last week and my employer revoked my contract saying that my contract was only valid till I was legally allowed to work in Canada. I will complete my 730 days in another few weeks. It was my understanding that I should apply for a renewal of PR only once I've lived here for two years. I have three questions
1. Can my employer refuse me employment if my PR card has expired.
2. A new PR card can take months to arrive. I can't stay unemployed for so long. So what should I tell an employer when I apply for other jobs if they ask me for my PR card?
3. I lived two months in Canada when I first got my PR. Then went back. Came back again to live here permanently. Would those two months count in my 730 days now that my PR card has expired? Or do I have to start my 730 days from the day I moved here to live permanently? (That might mean that I will have to wait another two months before I apply for a renewal). Please help.
A PR is legally entitled to work in Canada. SIN card alone should suffice. For more skeptical employers, showing CoPR plus the SIN card should suffice.
That may not suffice for all prospective employers. With rare exceptions, hiring decisions are
AT-WILL, so if showing your CoPR plus the SIN card does not suffice for a given employer, move on and seek employment elsewhere. While I am not personally acquainted with this, my expectation is that the far bigger factor in the availability of employment for you has to do with the availability of jobs you are qualified for. If the employer is inclined to hire you, CoPR plus SIN will suffice.
I am not familiar with wrongful discharge policies or rules in Canada, other than to be aware that many employees in various kinds of employment are protected from wrongful discharge; the nature and scope of available recourse (such as severance pay or other remedies, in some very particular types of employment perhaps even reinstatement) is beyond the scope of this forum; but these undoubtedly vary extensively (factors include extent to which the employment is protected by collective bargaining contracts with a union, how long employed, among many other factors). That said, I am also aware that many workers are
AT-WILL and thus can be discharged at any time for any reason except prohibited discrimination (which is also a subject well outside the scope of this forum).
Employment pursuant to individual contract varies way too widely to generalize much. Contracts can be enforced. That is what a contract is about. BUT of course what recourse is available depends on the particular terms in the contract, including provisions governing termination of the contract, including terms affecting remedies in the event of a breach in contract. And of course there is typically a question about whether or not it is worth pursuing enforcement of the contract. Canadian lawyers tend to be (in my view) overpriced, and even if they were more reasonably priced enforcing a contract can be a rather expensive gamble.
As to this query in particular:
Hi,
3. I lived two months in Canada when I first got my PR. Then went back. Came back again to live here permanently. Would those two months count in my 730 days now that my PR card has expired? Or do I have to start my 730 days from the day I moved here to live permanently? (That might mean that I will have to wait another two months before I apply for a renewal). Please help.
Compliance with the PR Residency Obligation (for you and any other PR who has reached the fifth year anniversary of the date of landing) is based on calculating days present in Canada during the five years preceding the date the calculation is made.
IRCC processing of a PR card application necessarily includes a PR Residency Obligation compliance determination. This calculation is based on the date the PR card application is made (date signed assuming it is promptly sent to IRCC after it is signed).
So, if you apply July 5, 2018, IRCC will calculate PR RO compliance based on the number of days you have been present in Canada between July 5, 2013 and July 5, 2018.
That said, if the PR meets the PR RO by the date that IRCC begins processing the application, the odds are very good the application will EVENTUALLY result in a new PR card being issued, even though technically the PR was short on the date the application was made. This is because the days in-between applying and any decision will COUNT toward meeting the PR RO, so it would be rather foolish of IRCC to deny the application (technically it can, given non-compliance as of the date the application is made means the PR is NOT eligible for a PR card pursuant to that application) only to force the PR to make another PR card application (actual anecdotal reports of this are dated, but probably still representative).
THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT CAVEATS:
Such an application (applying in circumstances knowing that by the time the application is reviewed the PR RO will be met, but a little short of meeting the PR RO at the time of applying) is at HIGH RISK for non-routine processing.
Non-routine processing will likely delay the issuance of a new PR card. The timeline may be a full YEAR, perhaps somewhat longer. However, waiting until September 15 and applying with 740 days of presence (within the preceding five years as of that day) is also at high risk for a referral to Secondary Review and potentially taking a year to process. Indeed, even if you wait until December 1, 2018 to apply when you have more than 800 days presence in Canada within the preceding five years, there would still be an elevated risk of a referral to SR (due to extent of absence since landing and obviousness of being in breach well into this year).
This is a situation in which, unlike most others, the sooner the application is made notwithstanding currently being short of compliance (short of 730 days within the previous five years), the sooner the non-routine processing is likely to be done and a PR card issued.
Another caveat, as previously mentioned, is that IRCC could deny the application, since technically you do not meet the requirements for being issued a new PR card as of the date of the application. This seems very unlikely to me UNLESS the PR is abroad or perceived to be abroad or IRCC concludes that as of that date you also are NOT in compliance. While the risk of this happening is quite or even very low, so long as you REMAIN in Canada pending the decision, if it did happen this probably requires an appeal which would be a complicated appeal, potentially a tricky appeal.
Another caveat: Since IRCC is barely getting to PR card applications submitted in March, it is NOT at all likely but it is nonetheless technically POSSIBLE IRCC could open and review the application soon after it arrives at IRCC, BEFORE you have been in Canada for 730+ days within the preceding five years, and make a prompt decision to deny the application because you do not meet the PR RO on the face of the application. And issue a Removal Order. You could appeal this. Obtain a provisional PR card pending the appeal. Probably have a fair chance of winning the appeal as long as you stay in Canada and are well settled, working in Canada, pending the appeal. BUT that outcome is significantly more risky, since as of the day that decision is made your continued time in Canada does NOT count in the PR RO compliance calculation . . . it will only be considered in the H&C assessment.
SUMMARY:
Most secure approach is to wait to apply for PRC until you have for sure 730+ days presence within the preceding five years, and remain in Canada pending processing.
Assuming you have been physically present in Canada for 22 months within the previous two/three years, most of that continuously up to now, you might apply soon and thereby trim some time off how long it will take to be issued a new PR card assuming you are referred to SR. More important to remain in Canada in the meantime if you do this.
