On May 31, 2011, Citizenship and Immigration Canada (“CIC”) issued Operational Bulletin 310, which discussed recent changes to the Labour Market Opinion (“LMO”) confirmation letters issued by Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (“HRSDC”).

In cases where a positive LMO has been obtained, the employer must provide a copy of the LMO confirmation letter to the foreign national, as CIC and the Canadian Border Services Agency (“CBSA”) require a copy to process the LMO-based work permit application. HRSDC’s Foreign Worker System (“FWS”) also interfaces with CIC systems to provide CIC and CBSA with electronic details about the job offer and the foreign national associated with the LMO confirmation letter.

Until recently, Annex A of an LMO confirmation letter included the name of a foreign national who would be entering Canada under that LMO. Where an LMO confirmation letter was issued for multiple positions, it was commonplace to include multiple names, as listed in Annex A. This presented a privacy risk because the LMO confirmation letter (including Annex A) was sent by the employer to all of the foreign nationals identified, thereby divulging personal information about each foreign worker contained in the LMO.

In response to this privacy concern, as of April 1, 2011, HRSDC implemented a change to their FWS that no longer allows the name of a foreign national to be included in an LMO confirmation letter. However, for the moment, LMO confirmation letters related to the Live-in Caregiver Program (“LCP”) and Arranged Employment Opinions (“AEOs”) will continue to show the name of the FN.

HRSDC continues to share the names of foreign nationals electronically with CIC and CBSA through the FWS interface for the purposes of administering the Temporary Foreign Worker Program. CIC and CBSA officers will only be able to verify a foreign national’s link to the LMO via an Employment Validation search in both Global Case Management System and Field Operations Support System.