Foreign workers and interns

All students, including postdoctoral and medical fellows as well as training or research interns, have been required to be adequately protected against COVID-19 according to Québec norms to access a health and social services establishment or a research centre adjacent to such an establishment for the purpose of their fellowship or internship in Quebec. The list of vaccines that are recognized by Québec is available at your host faculty.

When requesting an invitation for a fellowship or internship, students who are not adequately protected against COVID-19 must notify their supervisor. Their invitation may be postponed or cancelled.

It is the students’ responsibility to ensure they meet the requirement for adequate protection against COVID-19 and to provide proof of vaccination to the Registrar’s Office when registering. Students who are not adequately protected cannot register for or carry out their fellowship or internship.

Pay attention: Québec protection standards and vaccines approved by Canada may differ. Students are responsible to ensure their vaccines meet the requirements for Canada and Québec.

Once the foreign worker or intern has obtained an invitation letter, he or she can go through the usual immigration procedures.

Here is how COVID-19 has affected the procedures.

Find out about the current public health situation in Quebec before you book your trip. Due to the pandemic, certain services and businesses may be closed, public and private gatherings may be banned or limited, and travel between regions may be restricted.

Université Laval’s on-campus health guidelines to slow the spread of the pandemic follow the government’s current COVID-19 directives and the alert levels for the Capitale-Nationale region.

As a general rule, foreign workers or interns may be accompanied by members of their immediate family, i.e. their spouse or common-law partner and dependent children. The accompanying individuals must meet the Canadian vaccination requirements, provide the immigration documents required based on their situation and meet the requirements for entering Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic, such as preparing their proof of vaccination, download and fill the ArriveCAN app and if applicable, do a random COVID-19 test upon arrival.

Workers and interns applying for a work permit can include their family members’ applications with their own. Their spouse or common-law partner may then be eligible for an open work permit. School-age children must usually apply first for a Quebec Acceptance Certificate (Certificat d’acceptation du Québec, - CAQ) and then for a study permit.

Travellers should check if they are eligible to enter Canada and meet all entry requirements before heading to the border.

Université Laval is not responsible for the immigration process for family members.

Biometrics (photo and fingerprints) are required to apply for a Canadian work permit. If you are outside of Canada, you can have your photo and fingerprints taken in a visa application centre (VAC).

Since the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the services offered at VACs, visit your VAC’s website before going to find out if it is open and what services are available. You can find the contact details for the VACs in your country here.

Without your biometrics, your work permit application will not be processed.

Please note that Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada asks that applicants do not to travel to another VAC if the closest one is closed, and that additional time will be granted to provide their biometrics.

The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting processing times in many countries.

Note that even though you have an invitation from Université Laval, you may still not be able to carry out your stay on the expected dates.

Before your arrival, it is crucial you read the information pertaining to health and hospitalization insurance for your stay in Canada on the Enrolling in the health and hospitalization insurance plan for international students and Impacts of COVID-19 on international students web pages.

Please note that the group health and hospitalization insurance plan offered to international students and foreign interns through Desjardins Insurance and the coverage under Quebec’s public health insurance plan (Régie d’assurance maladie du Québec, RAMQ) offered to certain international students under reciprocal social security agreements with their countries only take effect upon arrival in Quebec.

In the exceptional event that you would need to quarantine, if you have to complete part or all of your quarantine outside the province of Quebec, we strongly recommend that you take out comprehensive travel health insurance and emergency medical insurance that covers any costs related to COVID-19 for the duration of your travel until you arrive in Quebec and for the entire period of your quarantine outside the province. It must also include a possible coverage extension in the event you contract COVID-19 or develop COVID-19 symptoms.

Fully vaccinated travellers arriving in Canada by air are subject to random testing for COVID-19. Those selected for testing will receive an email providing full instructions for the test within 15 minutes of their arrival. The tests will be done outside the airport (pharmacies or virtually); they are mandatory. Selected travellers will be able to take their connecting flight or train and are not required to quarantine while waiting for their results. If you test positive on arrival, you must isolate for 10 days from the date you receive your results, in accordance with federal requirements. The requirement is 10 days, regardless of the isolation period in the province or territory of residence. If you test positive, you will also need to follow the Gouvernement du Québec guidelines in place.

For more information, see the Arrival tests if selected section as well as the news release.

This first step is generally carried out through answering a series of questions using an automated kiosk. Once you are done, you will receive a receipt that you will have to take to a border services officer when you leave the secure area.

If you had to provide your fingerprints to obtain your Canadian immigration document, you will have to have them verified at the automated kiosk.

More information on primary inspection kiosks

When you arrive at your first Canadian airport, you will have to show your letter of introduction to obtain your work permit (or, if you need a visitor record, your invitation letter and the letter confirming the work permit exemption), regardless of whether it is a stopover or your final destination. Upon exiting the secure area, a border services officer will send you to secondary inspection. Your documents will be examined, and you will be issued your work permit. You will also be asked to show your ArriveCAN receipt.

The total time for going through customs and having your work permit (or visitor record) printed may vary from 1 to 3 hours, depending on the airport and the time of day.

The customs officer has the final say on your entry into Canada. If everything is in order, he or she will issue your work permit. Before leaving customs, check that all the information on the permit is correct, particularly with regard to your identity, the employer (Université Laval), the city (Quebec City), the status under which you have been invited (visiting professor or researcher, postdoctoral or medical fellow, training or research intern, research professional or other), the expiry date (covering at least duration of the invitation, unless your passport expires earlier), the LMIA-exempt job offer number and the conditions listed (e.g. if you have undergone the medical examination, there must be no restrictions on working with patients, children or the elderly). It is best to have any errors corrected on the spot as even one mistake could prevent you from working in Canada for several weeks.

If your letter of introduction indicates an expiration date that is less than the duration of your stay, due to processing times during the COVID-19 pandemic, you can ask the border services officer if he can consider the length of your invitation when printing your work permit, but generally he or she will respect the date indicated in your letter of introduction. If necessary, you can contact your faculty’s contact person for immigration to extend your work permit. See the list (in French only).

Foreign workers and interns who are exempted of a work permit and who need a visitor record must, upon receipt of the visitor record, review the information regarding their identity and the work permit exemption (must mention the right to work and the applicable work permit exemption). If there are errors, ask for a new visitor record (do not accept handwritten corrections).