• Persons who hold a temporary resident permit (TRP) under s. 24(1) of IRPA (IRPR, s.
208(b));
• Certain workers authorized to enter Canada on a reciprocal basis (Canada World Youth
•
•
•
•
Program participants, certain international student and young worker exchange programs,
family members of foreign representatives and of military personnel, professional athletes
authorized to enter Canada, who require other work to support themselves while playing);
Spouses of skilled workers, (IRPR, s. 205(c));
Spouses of foreign students, (IRPR, s. 205(c));
Qualifying foreign nationals currently in Canada who have submitted an application for
permanent residence under the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Canadian
experience class (CEC), the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) or the Federal Skilled
Trades Program (FSTP) and who meet program eligibility requirements;
Qualifying foreign nationals who have submitted an application for permanent residence
under the spouse or common-law partner in Canada (SCLPC) class.248
If there is information that an applicant is inadmissible, their application for an open work permit
can be refused.249 In many cases the foreign nationals listed above will already be considered a
temporary resident in Canada before applying for an open work permit. This is because they
either belong to a particular class of persons with a status, or because they have status as family
members of persons within a particular class. Persons with temporary resident status are
“lawfully in Canada” for the purposes of Article 18.
However, foreign nationals who are the subject of an unenforceable removal order and are
unable to meet their basic needs, are not likely to have temporary residence or be “lawfully in”
Canada before applying for an open work permit under s. 206(1)(b) of the IRPR. Such persons
may have overstayed their initial period of authorized stay, be inadmissible, or have no country
to which they can be admitted or have legal status. As discussed at Article 17, it is this situation
in which some stateless persons find themselves and remain in legal limbo for years.
Furthermore, unlike the other foreign nationals on the list above, individuals granted an open
work permit under s. 206(1)(b) of the IRPR are specifically excluded from consideration as
having temporary resident status.250
c. Foreign Nationals and Incorporation
Finally, for stateless persons who have a valid work permit and wish to establish their own
business, it is important to be aware of some restrictions placed on foreign nationals establishing
corporations. If a stateless person in Canada wishes to incorporate, there may be foreign
ownership restrictions depending on the industrial sector. In addition, foreign nationals
establishing corporations in Canada may be required to have a specific number of resident
Canadian directors. In federal, Alberta and Ontario law, 25% of corporate directors must be
248
Citizenship and Immigration Canada, “International Mobility Program: Open work permit” (22 December 2014),
available at: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/tools/temp/work/admissibility/open.asp [International Mobility
Program: Open work permit]
249
Ibid.
250
IRPR, supra note 21 at s. 202.
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