The film and tv industries provide jobs and revenue to several people connected to them. The government of Canada is also offering work permits for foreign movie and tv production companies to shoot in Canada.
As per the new guidelines, Canada has removed most of the covid-19 restrictions, and fully vaccinated travelers can move into the country without pre-arrival covid testing. Mask necessity in many provinces is also put at ease.
According to the reports, the Canadian government has invested much in the TV and film industry this year. Canada is looking forward to a great year for the entertainment production companies.
From March 12-16, the head of NovaScotia is also visiting Los Angeles for a meeting with the directors and producers of Netflix, Disney, and NBC.
Another great thing for the TV and film industries is a film studio of 300,000 sq. ft is being constructed in Burnaby, BC.
This is all because the government of Canada has realized the overall aspect of film industries and the social, cultural, and economic benefits related to it. Therefore, the country is offering facilitated work permits to the professionals of foreign film industries. The producers, actors, and crew members can get work permits easily to shoot in Canada.
The LMIAs and LMIA-exempt work permits
Overseas movies and TV crew members may skip the Labour Market Impact Assessment process to work in Canada.
LMIAs and LMIA-exempt are two different categories of Canadian work permits.
According to the LMIA work permit, the foreign worker proves and agrees to the government that he will not create any negativity or wrongdoing in the Canadian labor market. He demonstrates that he did not impede any Canadian workers’ opportunity and will perform best at his work.
Another work permit LMIA exemption is given to the workers who will add up cultural, social, or economic benefit to Canada. The TV and filmmakers and its cast and crew members will be able to get LMIA exempt and benefit from a work permit. The workers with LIMA exemption will not require LIMA.
LIMA exempt work permit is given to the workers who are engaged in the jobs related to the production, and the one belongs to TV and film production industries.
Individuals are only granted LMIA exemptions if their role in the production is essential. There isn’t any particular list to decide the eligibility for LIMA exemption; thus, it may vary accordingly.
It may be determined on the basis of the evidence provided by the worker to support its role in production. However, this is not only limited to individuals’ job roles. The government may consider other factors too.
Some workers in the TV and film industry may be provided with an LMIA facilitated process, in which there is no requirement to prove their jobs.
Business visitor visas
If the producers, actors, and other crew members qualify for Business visitor visas, they do not require to have a Canadian work permit.
The following three categories of TV and film industry professionals may be considered eligible for business visitors visas:
- Film producers
- Essential personnel and
- Performing artists
- The first category to qualify for a business visitors visa is of film producers. The producer landed in Canada to produce a foreign-financed movie, TV show, or documentary.
- The second category is of Essential personnel. The workers in this category visit Canada to perform the shoots funded by foreigners and can not stay more than 14 days. The candidates in this category are mainly decided by the evidence provided by the production industry and may vary from case to case.
- Lastly, Performing artists is the third category to qualify for visitors visa who visit the country to perform in different shows such as concerts, festivals, or share the stage as a guest celebrity on a series, TV shows, or movies shooting in Canada. However, in case an artist has to reappear in the country to perform on a regular basis, he might need to apply for a work permit visa.
Apply for a work permit using “FILMTV2020
An online work permit application of tv and film workers may take up to 3 weeks to process. As per the rules, the workers have to fill up the web form entering the “FILMTV2020″ to request to prioritize the application processing.
IRCC says it takes a minimum of 21 days to process TV and film work permits.
Five days are required to address the application and around 14 days to process the application. Further, IRCC suggests that applicants enter the “FILMTV2020” code in the inquiry section to request to lessen the processing time.
