I have just been offered a job in Calgary. The employer wants me to be out there mid November and have said that they will sponsor me for a work permit. However neither the employer or myself have progressed the work permit application yet (I only got the job offer late last week). The job already has LMO authorisation which should speed things along however I am concerned that the work permit application will take longer to come through than 7 weeks (mid november).

1.Does anyone have any advice on how we can hurry things along?
2.Also what is the typical duration for work permits to be granted?
3.Lastly is the work permit progressed by the employer or do I need to fill in forms etc up front?

Any advice would be appreciated.
Many Thanks

I took a Work Permit application into the Canadian Embassy in London about 2 weeks ago and they said that the timescale was about 5-6 weeks.The woman actually asked me what date I wanted to go to Canada and wrote that down on the form.I think if you take in the forms with an LMO acceptance and ask if it can be processed by a reasonable date you should hopefully be ok.

Good Luck

Rena thanks for the reply,
can you give me a rough idea of the costs and where you got the application forms from?

This link should give you the info.

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/apply-how.asp

Cant you just take your paperwork and get the work permit at the Port of entry, i am sure I have read this before, search the threads!

I came to Canada last November with a letter of job offer and the LMO approval and got a 2 year work permit at the airport. Much quicker than going through the Embassy and costs the same. Just make sure you have all the paperwork with you.

Regards.

You can do it this way but you obviously need to double check and then double check again that you have ALL the info needed/forms/money etc so that the application is not refused. Last i heard although the embassy say 5-6 weeks it is alot longer. Friends also put on there's a date they needed to be out in canada by and it still didnt come in time. Port of entry seems the way to go if you are in a hurry