How to Verify a Work Permit in Canada: What Recruiters Must Collect
How Canadian agencies verify work permits: open vs employer-specific permits, SIN rules, LMIA basics and the documents recruiters should keep.
A candidate tells your consultant they have a work permit, sends a photo of the first page and asks when they can start. The client wants them on site Monday. Your recruiter is not sure whether the permit is open or tied to a named employer, whether the expiry date leaves enough runway for the assignment, or whether the Social Insurance Number they quoted is the kind that comes with its own expiry. Multiply that by twenty candidates a week and you can see why Canadian agencies need a repeatable way to verify work permit Canada requirements before anyone starts a shift.
Getting this wrong is not a paperwork slip. Employing someone who is not authorised to do that work, for that employer, in that role, can create serious problems for your agency and your client. The rules also shift as Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) update programmes, so a checklist written two years ago may not hold up today.
This is part 4 of our Right to Work Around the World series. In this guide we cover the difference between open and employer-specific permits, what to collect for the SIN number employer obligations, the basics of the Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) for recruitment, and a practical document list for Canadian staffing compliance. As always, this is general guidance, not legal advice: confirm specifics on the official IRCC and Service Canada websites or with an immigration professional.
Who can work in Canada without a permit, and who needs one
Before you get into permit types, sort candidates into the right group. That first step decides which documents you need.
- Canadian citizens do not need a work permit. Evidence of citizenship (for example a Canadian passport or citizenship certificate) is typically what agencies record.
- Permanent residents do not need a work permit either. They usually show a permanent resident card or, for recent arrivals, their confirmation of permanent residence.
- Temporary residents (foreign workers, international students, some visitors with specific authorisation) generally need a valid work permit or an explicit authorisation to work, and the conditions on that authorisation matter as much as the document itself.
Do not assume status from a name, accent or address. Ask every candidate for evidence of their right to work in the same way, at the same stage, so your process is consistent and fair.
Open vs employer-specific work permits
This is the distinction that trips up most recruiters, and it matters even more for agencies because of how temporary placements are structured.
Open work permits
An open work permit generally allows the holder to work for most employers in Canada, though it can still carry conditions. Some open permits restrict certain occupations, for example work in health care or child care may require a medical exam first, and some are tied to a programme such as a spousal or post-graduation route. Read the conditions printed on the permit rather than assuming "open" means "unrestricted".
Employer-specific work permits
An employer-specific work permit names the employer the holder may work for and typically also states the occupation and sometimes the location. If your agency is placing a candidate on an employer-specific permit, you need to be clear about which employer the permit actually names and whether the arrangement you are proposing fits within it. For agencies, this is not a box-ticking exercise: the relationship between the agency, the client and the named employer needs careful review, and the safe move is to check the current IRCC guidance or take advice before placing.
What to check on any permit
| Item on the permit | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Holder's name and date of birth | Must match the candidate and your record |
| Permit type (open or employer-specific) | Decides who they may work for |
| Named employer, if any | Must fit the placement |
| Occupation and location, if stated | Must fit the role and site |
| Conditions (e.g. medical exam, restrictions) | May rule out certain roles |
| Expiry date | Sets your follow-up date |
Record the expiry date in your system the moment you accept the document. An expired permit discovered three weeks into an assignment is far harder to fix than one flagged a month before it runs out.
SIN number employer obligations
The Social Insurance Number (SIN) is needed to work in Canada and to access government programmes. As an employer of record for temporary workers, your agency will need it for payroll.
What to collect
Ask the candidate for their SIN as part of onboarding. Canada Revenue Agency payroll guidance says employers must get the SIN within three days of the person starting work (or within three days of the worker receiving it, if they are still waiting), so check the current rules on canada.ca. Physical SIN cards have not been issued for some years, so candidates usually provide a confirmation of SIN letter instead.
The SINs that start with a 9
A SIN beginning with 9 is issued to temporary residents who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents. These SINs have an expiry date that generally matches the person's immigration document. That gives you a useful cross-check: if the SIN expiry and the work permit expiry do not line up, ask why before the candidate starts. Track both dates.
Handle it carefully
A SIN is sensitive personal information. Collect it for legitimate employment purposes only, store it securely, limit who can see it and do not pass it to clients unless there is a genuine need. Service Canada publishes guidance on protecting SINs, and it is worth building into your onboarding training. When you assess any tool that will handle SINs and permit copies, ask how it secures them; GettingDocs explains its approach on its security page.
LMIA recruitment basics
A Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) is the process ESDC uses to assess whether hiring a foreign worker for a particular job is likely to have a neutral or positive effect on the Canadian labour market. A positive LMIA is often a step towards the worker getting an employer-specific work permit under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.
For agencies, three practical points stand out:
- Not every foreign worker needs an LMIA. Many permits are LMIA-exempt, including most open permits and some international agreement routes. Your job is to check the permit the candidate holds, not to guess how they got it.
- Temporary help agencies face specific requirements when they are involved in LMIA applications, including information about the client and the work. These requirements change, so check the latest ESDC programme guidance before you start.
- Keep the paperwork together. If an LMIA underpins a placement, keep a copy of the relevant documents with the candidate's record so you can answer questions from the client or an inspector quickly.
LMIA recruitment rules also carry advertising and wage expectations. If your agency is supporting a client through the process, make sure someone with up-to-date knowledge owns it.
The Canadian staffing compliance document checklist
Here is a practical starting list for Canadian staffing compliance. Adapt it to your provinces, sectors and client requirements, as some roles need extra checks such as police records, professional licences or safety tickets.
| Document | Who needs it | What to record |
|---|---|---|
| Proof of citizenship or PR status | Citizens and permanent residents | Document type, number, date checked |
| Work permit (all pages) | Temporary residents | Type, named employer, conditions, expiry |
| SIN confirmation | All workers | SIN, expiry if it starts with 9 |
| Photo ID | All workers | Matches permit and SIN details |
| Role-specific certificates or licences | Depends on sector | Issuer, expiry |
| Signed onboarding forms | All workers | Date signed |
Two process habits make a big difference:
- Collect complete documents, not snapshots. Ask for every page of the permit, including conditions. A photo of the front alone is not enough.
- Set expiry follow-ups automatically. Permits, 9-series SINs and many certificates expire. Chasing renewals a few weeks ahead keeps workers on assignment.
Making permit checks fast without cutting corners
The bottleneck in most agencies is not knowing what to collect. It is getting candidates to send clear, complete documents quickly, then filing them on the right record. That is chasing work, and it eats consultants' time.
This is the work Amy, the GettingDocs AI assistant, is built for. Amy chases candidates on WhatsApp and on email sent from your agency's own domain, checks that each upload is readable and is the right document, rejects blurred photos and cut-off pages and asks again, then files accepted documents onto the candidate's record in your ATS. GettingDocs is built for staffing agencies in the US and UK today, so if you also place workers in Canada, the best next step is a conversation about your workflow before you commit.
Key takeaways
- Sort candidates first: citizens, permanent residents and temporary residents need different evidence.
- Read the whole permit: open vs employer-specific, named employer, occupation, conditions and expiry all matter.
- Treat the SIN as both a payroll item and a cross-check, especially 9-series SINs with their own expiry.
- Understand LMIA basics, but check current ESDC and IRCC guidance rather than relying on memory.
- Track every expiry date and chase renewals before they lapse.
If you want to stop chasing candidates for permit pages and SIN letters by hand, book a call with GettingDocs to see how automated chasing and checking would fit your agency.
Please note: this article is general information, not legal advice, and was correct at the time of writing (October 2026). Rules and guidance change, so please check the latest guidance from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada before relying on it.