Prime Minister Mark Carney, right, is presented with a novelty World Cup ticket by FIFA President Gianni Infantino. Canada is hosting 13 World Cup matches next year.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
Immigration Minister Lena Diab has suspended the need for work permits for foreign nationals working on next year’s soccer World Cup, in an apparent attempt to ensure there are no glitches or delays in hosting the high-profile sporting event.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) posted a notice this week on its website with details of the temporary suspension of the need for work permits for people invited by FIFA, the World Cup organizer.
It said that Ms. Diab had introduced a temporary exemption from the usual rules, which require a foreign national to have a permit to work in Canada.
IRCC confirmed on Thursday that the work permit exemption would be brought in for “certain foreign workers coming for short-term roles” in the international soccer tournament.
“This helps ensure that the event runs smoothly as these workers will have specialized skills needed to manage the tournament’s operations and logistics. This exemption makes the process simpler for select people invited by FIFA, while Canada continues to protect local jobs and uphold fair labour standards,” said IRCC spokesperson Anne Murayama.
“FIFA has committed to hiring primarily Canadian staff and volunteers for the World Cup.”
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IRCC did not say if it is preparing to follow the U.S. government, which recently announced a fast-track visa system for those attending World Cup matches in the United States.
Canada will host 13 matches of the global soccer championship next year. It is not building new stadiums, but the preparations for the event are extensive and have already started.
Laura Misener, professor of kinesiology at Western University who specializes in sports management, said waiving normal work permit requirements is common for countries hosting major sporting events.
She said FIFA officials would typically come with an array of experts to look at venues and even play test matches, with multiple site visits in advance.
As well as referees, data analysts, technologists, marketing and communications experts and other FIFA officials, national teams would also bring their own entourages, she said, including doctors, massage therapists, physiotherapists, health scientists as well as coaches, managers, and even dietitians and players’ chefs.
She said the support staff for national teams could involve “thousands of people” and it made sense to waive work permit requirements to avoid a processing backlog.
“In other sectors, we have seen real delays in work permits and study permits,” Dr. Misener said.
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Immigration lawyer Randy Hahn said many people who engage with Canada’s immigration system “are unhappily aware ... the system is overwhelmed and that translates to increased processing times, which in some instances are not all workable given practical realities.”
He said the easing of the rules on work permits for the World Cup “appears to be a stopgap measure to reduce some likely stresses on the system.”
“While it is understandable that Canada would do what it can to facilitate entry for those that are part of the World Cup ... it is disheartening to all the others who continue to wait for immigration processing with not a clear indication of how immigration authorities plan to tackle the ongoing problems with processing,” he said in an e-mail.
Work permit processing times can range from weeks to months, depending on the country from which a person is applying. There are no set processing times for nationals of Argentina, which won the World Cup in 2022. According to IRCC, it takes seven weeks to process a work permit application from Brazil, which has won the World Cup five times.
IRCC said that foreign nationals will qualify to work without a work permit if they are holding an official FIFA letter of invitation that says the individual will be performing work during the approved dates and that this work directly supports an official World Cup event. They would need to leave Canada by the end of July of next year.