Canada adds five new eligible occupations to its Global Talent Stream

Canada has identified five new engineering occupations that are experiencing labour shortage in the country.

Last week, Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) expanded the list of eligible occupations in the Global Talent Stream (GTS).

The Global Talent Stream allows certain skilled workers to obtain a work permit within two weeks of applying. It aims to help innovative companies grow by ensuring they can access the highly skilled talent they need quickly.


The occupations that have been added are:

• Civil Engineers
• Electrical and electronics engineer
• Mining engineers
• Aerospace engineers
• Computer engineers (except software engineers and designers)

The Global Talent Stream comes with a two-week standard for processing of work permit applications (and temporary resident visas, if applicable) for highly skilled talent. It is part of Canada's Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

Foreign workers hired through the GTS must be paid at the prevailing wage or higher. The prevailing wage is defined as the highest figure of either:

• the median wage for the occupation on the Government of Canada's Job Bank
• the wage within the range an employer pays current employees in the same position at the same location, with the same skills and experience
• the minimum wage floor as defined in the Global Talent occupations list (if applicable).

Under the Global Talent Stream, two new categories of workers are now exempt from having to obtain a work permit:

1. Highly-skilled workers in skill type 0 or skill level A occupations of the NOC can enter Canada to work for 15 days in a six-month period, or for 30 days in a 12-month period, without obtaining a work permit.
2. Researchers working on research projects at a publicly-funded degree-granting institution or affiliated research institution can come to Canada for 120 days in a 12-month period, without requiring a work permit.