Why work permit applications are refused, and what reapplying well looks like

Most people who arrive with a refused work permit have been told the wrong thing about why. They were told the job was the problem, or the company, or the recruiter. Sometimes that is true. Often the employer's side of the file was approved and the refusal is entirely about the applicant. Separating the two decisions is the first useful thing you can do.

Two decisions, two decision makers

A labour market impact assessment is an employment assessment, applied for by your employer and decided by Employment and Social Development Canada. It asks whether there is a need to hire a foreign worker for the job.

The work permit is a separate application, made by you and decided by an IRCC officer. Section 200(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations tells that officer to issue it if it is established that you applied properly, that you will leave Canada at the end of your authorised stay, that you fall within one of the permitted categories, and that any medical examination requirement is met.

A positive LMIA satisfies part of one of those limbs. It says nothing about the rest. That is why a worker can hold a valid LMIA, a signed contract and a willing employer, and still be refused.

The officer is not satisfied you will leave

This is the most common refusal ground on temporary applications and the least understood. Paragraph 200(1)(b) requires the officer to be satisfied that you "will leave Canada by the end of the period authorized for their stay". The burden sits with you, and the officer is forecasting, not accusing.

Officers weigh ties, circumstances and the plausibility of the plan: your employment and family situation at home, your immigration and compliance history, your travel history, and whether the job and the stay make sense together. Thin answers leave the officer to fill the gap.

It does not mean that wanting to stay is fatal. Subsection 22(2) of the Act says an intention to become a permanent resident "does not preclude them from becoming a temporary resident if the officer is satisfied that they will leave Canada by the end of the period authorized for their stay". Declared ambition is lawful. Concealed ambition is a different problem.

One point of accuracy: section 200(2) disapplies this requirement for some categories of applicant. It is not universal, and whether it applies depends on the provision you apply under.

The job offer is not accepted as genuine

Where your permit depends on an offer of employment, the officer must decide whether that offer is genuine. Subsection 200(5) of the Regulations sets out four factors.

• Whether the offer is made by an employer that is actively engaged in the business the offer relates to.
• Whether the offer is consistent with the reasonable employment needs of the employer.
• Whether the terms of the offer are terms the employer is reasonably able to fulfil.
• The past compliance of the employer, or of any person who recruits the foreign national for the employer, with the federal or provincial laws regulating employment and recruitment in the province where the work will be done.

Read those as a description of the companies that fail. A business with no visible operations. A one-person firm offering a salary its revenue cannot support. A role invented around a candidate rather than a need. A recruiter with a history of breaking provincial recruitment law. None of that is your conduct, and all of it lands on your file.

So do the diligence before you pay anyone. Does the employer actually operate. Does the pay match the role and the region. Is the recruiter licensed where they are recruiting.

The officer is not satisfied you can do the work

Paragraph 200(3)(a) says an officer shall not issue a work permit where "there are reasonable grounds to believe that the foreign national is unable to perform the work sought". This is a hard bar, not a balancing exercise.

It bites where the evidence does not reach the job. A regulated occupation where you hold no licence and no route to one. A role requiring a language you have not evidenced. Experience claimed in a resume but unsupported by employment letters or references.

The fix is documentary and boring: reference letters stating duties, dates and hours, proof of registration or eligibility to register, and language evidence where the role depends on it.

Misrepresentation, which costs far more than a refusal

Section 40 of the Act makes a person inadmissible for "directly or indirectly misrepresenting or withholding material facts relating to a relevant matter that induces or could induce an error in the administration of this Act".

Note what surprises people. Indirectly covers what a consultant, recruiter or relative submitted on your behalf. Withholding covers what you left out, not only what you wrote.

Inadmissibility and the bars written into the Regulations

Beyond the assessment of your case, subsection 200(3) lists circumstances in which an officer shall not issue the permit at all. Several catch people who did nothing wrong in this application.

• Prior unauthorised work or study, or failure to comply with a condition of an earlier permit, unless six months have passed since it stopped, with limited exceptions.
• Work in Quebec where that province's laws require a Certificat d'acceptation du Quebec and you do not hold one.
• Work likely to adversely affect the settlement of a labour dispute in progress, or the employment of a person involved in it.
• An employer who is ineligible under the compliance rules, in default of an administrative monetary penalty, or who regularly offers striptease, erotic dance, escort services or erotic massages.

Separately, the Act's general inadmissibility provisions apply to every applicant: security, criminality, health, financial and other grounds. A criminal record or an untreated medical issue can end an application on its own, and both have remedies that need starting early.

What GCMS notes are, and how to get yours

The refusal letter is a summary with boxes ticked. The reasoning sits in the officer's notes on your file, recorded in IRCC's Global Case Management System, which is where the phrase GCMS notes comes from. They show what the officer actually weighed.

You request them under the Privacy Act. IRCC states that the Act gives "Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and foreign nationals, regardless of where they are located, the right to access and request correction to their own personal information". Requests go through the ATIP Online Request tool or in writing on IRCC's request form or the equivalent Treasury Board forms. If someone requests on your behalf, IRCC requires a signed consent form for each person on the file over 18.

Read the notes before you touch a new application. The most common reason a second refusal follows a first is that the applicant answered the reason they assumed rather than the one recorded.

What reapplying well looks like

There is no appeal. IRCC states that under the Act "there's no formal process to appeal decisions on temporary residence applications", and that if you believe the decision was unreasonable or that there was an error in law or fairness, you can apply for leave and judicial review at the Federal Court.

On reapplying, IRCC's position is worth taking literally: "you can apply again at any time, unless your decision letter says you can't. You should only apply again if you can include information that you didn't include before."

A serious second application answers the recorded ground directly, adds evidence that did not exist in the first file rather than reshuffling it, and declares the previous refusal. It does not quietly submit the same package elsewhere and hope for a different officer.

My employer's LMIA was approved. Why was I refused?

Because they are two decisions. The LMIA is your employer's application about the job, decided by Employment and Social Development Canada. Your work permit is decided by an IRCC officer against section 200 of the Regulations, which also requires the officer to be satisfied you will leave at the end of your stay and that you can perform the work.

Does wanting permanent residence get my work permit refused?

Not by itself. Subsection 22(2) of the Act says an intention to become a permanent resident does not preclude temporary resident status provided the officer is satisfied you will leave at the end of the authorised stay. Hiding that intention is the damaging choice, not holding it.

How does an officer decide whether my job offer is genuine?

Subsection 200(5) of the Regulations sets four factors: whether the employer is actively engaged in that business, whether the offer matches their reasonable employment needs, whether they can reasonably fulfil the terms, and the past compliance of the employer or recruiter with employment and recruitment laws in that province.

Can I appeal a work permit refusal?

There is no appeal to a tribunal. IRCC states there is no formal appeal process for temporary residence decisions. The options are a fresh application with new information, or an application for leave and judicial review at the Federal Court.

How do I get my GCMS notes if I live outside Canada?

You make a Privacy Act request to IRCC, which states the Act gives foreign nationals the right to access their own personal information wherever they live. Requests go through the ATIP Online Request tool or the published forms, and a representative acting for you needs your signed consent.

Should I reapply straight away?

Only with something new. IRCC states you may apply again at any time unless the decision letter says otherwise, but that you should only do so if you can include information you did not include before. Get the notes, identify the recorded ground, and answer it.

If you have a refusal letter and are not sure what it is really saying, that is the document to have read before anything is resubmitted. Book a consultation

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