This page is informational only.
Lifeset Overseas does NOT process work permits. Work permits require a separate MEA Recruiting Agent (RA) licence under the Emigration Act, which we do not hold. Our Licence (No. 849/DC/PTA/PLA/LC-3/2024) covers visa consultancy and travel services — study, permanent residency, visitor, family, and CAIPS/GCMS support. This page exists so you understand the work-permit pathway, not because we can apply for it on your behalf.
Canada · Visa guide
Canada · Visa guideCanada Work Permit (Information Only)
Information about work-permit pathways across countries. Lifeset Overseas does NOT process work permits — work permits require a separate MEA Recruiting Agent (RA) licence under the Emigration Act. These pages exist for applicant awareness only; we cannot assist with these applications.
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- Visa categoryWork Permit (Information Only)
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Canada Work Permit (Information Only) — overview
What this page is, and what it is not
This is an informational reference to Canada's main work-permit pathways: LMIA-based permits, the International Mobility Program, and the Post-Graduation Work Permit. Lifeset Overseas does not process work permits — see the disclaimer at the top of this page. We hold a Punjab travel-professional consultancy licence, not an MEA Recruiting Agent licence under the Emigration Act, and arranging overseas employment requires the latter.
We publish this because half the harm done to families in Punjab comes from not understanding how these systems work. If you can read the structure below, you can tell a genuine offer from a fraud.
The single most important thing to understand
In Canada, a work permit is not something you buy and not something an agent can hand you. It starts with an employer, and the employer carries most of the process. Anyone who offers to sell you a job, a sponsorship, a nomination or a permit for a fee is describing something that does not legally exist in the way they are presenting it.
If someone asks you for money to "arrange" employment abroad, ask them for their MEA Recruiting Agent registration number and verify it before you part with anything. We do not hold one, which is precisely why we will not take this work.
How the pathway actually runs
The steps below are the real sequence. Note how much of it happens before you personally apply for anything — that shape is the tell. A process that starts with you paying a fee is not this process.
What we can help with instead
We cannot help you with a work permit. We can help you with:
- Study routes to Canada and elsewhere, which in several countries lead to post-study work rights in their own right
- Visitor and family visas
- Permanent-residence routes that are points-based rather than employer-sponsored
- Refusal recovery — CAIPS/GCMS notes, understanding what actually went wrong, and rebuilding a file
If a work permit is genuinely your goal, take this page as background and speak to a firm that holds the right licence.
Before you trust any figure
Salary thresholds, fees, occupation lists and quotas in this area change at least annually, and often mid-year. This page deliberately describes the structure rather than printing numbers that would quietly go stale. For current figures, always read canada.ca (IRCC) and the Employer Portal at ESDC directly — not an agent's screenshot, and not this page.
8 items
Documents you need
A genuine job offer from a Canadian employer
The employer must exist, be actively operating, and be able to show a real business need. Verify the company independently before paying anyone anything.
An LMIA, or a valid LMIA exemption
A Labour Market Impact Assessment is the employer proving no Canadian could fill the role. Exemptions exist under trade agreements, intra-company transfers and some youth mobility programmes.
Proof you can actually do the job
Qualifications, licences and experience matching the National Occupational Classification code on the offer.
Language ability where the occupation demands it
Some streams set an explicit IELTS/CELPIP or TEF level; others leave it to the employer.
Medical examination for many occupations
Required for healthcare, childcare and agriculture roles, and for stays over six months from India.
Police clearance and biometrics
Biometrics are collected at a VFS centre in India and are valid for ten years.
Proof of ties and intent to leave
A work permit is temporary. An officer must believe you will leave when it expires, even if you later apply for PR.
Funds for arrival
Enough to support yourself and any family travelling with you until the first pay cheque.
6 steps
How the process works
Step 1
The employer tests the labour market
They advertise the role in Canada and, if no Canadian is hired, apply to ESDC for an LMIA. This step is entirely on the employer and takes months.
Step 2
A positive LMIA is issued (or an exemption applies)
The employer sends you the LMIA number and a formal offer of employment.
Step 3
You apply to IRCC for the work permit
Online, with the LMIA number, the offer letter, your credentials and identity documents.
Step 4
Biometrics and medicals
Booked at a VFS centre once IRCC issues the request letters.
Step 5
Processing and decision
Timelines vary sharply by country of residence and stream — check the live IRCC estimate rather than an agent’s promise.
Step 6
Port of entry
The permit itself is printed when a border services officer admits you. Approval abroad is not the final step.
5 answers
Frequently asked questions
No. We do not hold an MEA Recruiting Agent licence and we do not process work permits or arrange overseas jobs. We can help with study, visitor, family and PR routes, and with refusal recovery.
Charging a worker for a job or an LMIA is illegal in Canada, and it is one of the most common frauds targeting Punjab. A genuine employer never asks you to pay for the LMIA. Walk away and report it.
The Post-Graduation Work Permit follows from completing an eligible programme at a Canadian institution. That begins with a study permit, which we can help you file properly.
Canadian work experience can score under Express Entry and some Provincial Nominee streams. It is a factor, never a guarantee, and no one can promise you an outcome.
Spousal open work permits exist for some streams. Eligibility depends on your occupation and permit type, and the rules have tightened repeatedly — check the current IRCC position.
A real way forward
Work visas aren’t our licence — a real route to Canada is.
Employer-driven work visas need a separate licence we don't hold — so this page is information only. But if your real goal is to build a future in Canada, we can help with a study route, a family route, or permanent residency where it exists. Talk to us and we'll map the honest path that actually works for you.
Honest route mapping
We assess your profile and show you which Canada pathway can realistically work for you.
A file built to win
Study, family or PR — whichever route fits, we build and stress-test the documents properly.
One consultant, end to end
The same person stays with your case from the first call to the decision.
Licensed & honest
A Government-of-Punjab licensed consultancy. We never take a case we believe will fail.
licensed (No. 849/DC/PTA/PLA/LC-3/2024)Fixed fees agreed upfrontWe won’t take a case we believe will fail
Other Canada visas
Study Visa
Post-SDS application route, the CAD 22,895 living-cost proof of funds, PAL/TAL, and the rules every Indian applicant must follow in 2026.
Dependent & Family Visa
Spouse and dependent-child visas for Canada — outland and inland sponsorship, dependants added to a principal application, and relationship proof that holds up. We do not handle work permits, including the Spousal Open Work Permit.
Permanent Residency
Canada Express Entry from India — FSW, CEC and PNP streams, CRS-score strategy, ECA, and the proof-of-funds rules that decide your file.
Canada Super Visa
Super Visa for parents and grandparents — 10-year multiple entry, up to 5 years per stay, with the medical insurance and minimum-income proof Canada requires.
Before you pay anyone for a Canada work permit
Only a firm holding an MEA Recruiting Agent licence may recruit you for overseas employment. That register is public, and checking it takes about a minute — it is the single thing that separates a legitimate agent from the people this route is famous for.
- Ask for the RA licence number and look it up on the Ministry of External Affairs’ own eMigrate portal. A genuine agent will give it without being pushed.
- A licensed agent’s fee is capped by law and receipted. Nobody legitimate asks for cash with no paperwork.
- No agent can promise you a job offer, and an offer letter that arrives before any interview is the oldest warning sign there is.
- Never hand over your original passport. Not to them, and not to us.
For information only — we do not handle work permits. Lifeset Overseas does not process work permits for Canada or any other country: that requires an MEA Recruiting Agent licence under the Emigration Act, which we do not hold. Our licence (No. 849/DC/PTA/PLA/LC-3/2024) covers visa consultancy and travel services. We can explain how this route works and how to check somebody who says they can do it — we cannot apply for it on your behalf, and we will not take a fee for trying.
Most people who ask us about work permits are really asking about something else.
A course with a post-study work route often reaches the same place, legally, through a door we can open for you — and it is a route nobody can take your money for and disappear. If you tell us what you are actually trying to achieve, we will tell you honestly whether that fits, including when it does not.
Or read the study visa route first — no phone number required.