Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) quietly rolled out an expedited work-permit process on 1 February 2026 that targets labour shortages in several high-demand occupations, most notably in health care and agriculture. Under the new measures, employer-specific permits—including Labour-Market-Impact-Assessment (LMIA) permits, Francophone Mobility permits and International Experience Canada (IEC) permits—will be routed through a priority channel if they relate to one of IRCC’s designated National Occupational Classification (NOC) codes. Applicants who qualify are already reporting approval times measured in days rather than the usual weeks.
The fast-track lane applies only to employer-specific permits; open permits such as Post-Graduation Work Permits are excluded. To be triaged correctly, employers must list the exact NOC code on the Offer of Employment or the LMIA, and foreign workers must reproduce that code on their application forms. IRCC officials say the system uses those codes to auto-flag files for accelerated screening.
Canada has relied heavily on immigration to fill gaps in health-care staffing and to stabilise food-supply chains. Yet bottlenecks in permit processing have kept thousands of internationally trained nurses, personal-support workers and farm employees waiting months before they can start work. By shaving weeks off the front-end wait, Ottawa hopes to ease mounting pressure on provincial health systems and prevent further disruptions in agri-food production.
![IRCC launches fast-track work permit processing for essential occupations]()
If you or your organization need hands-on support assembling the paperwork for these fast-tracked permits, VisaHQ’s Canada desk (https://www.visahq.com/canada/) can take over the administrative load—ensuring the right NOC codes appear on every form and that submissions are error-free the first time. Their online platform tracks changing IRCC rules in real time and offers dedicated specialists who can review offers of employment, LMIA decisions and worker profiles before filing, reducing the risk of delays even further.
For employers, the chief benefit is speed: hospitals facing winter staffing crunches can now deploy foreign nurses in as little as two weeks, and greenhouses can secure seasonal labour before the spring planting rush. Workers also stand to gain; priority NOC codes often overlap with Express Entry category-based draws, meaning a stint in one of the listed occupations can translate into a quicker invitation for permanent residence. Companies are nevertheless urged to double-check LMIA requirements—the new channel does not waive prevailing-wage or advertising rules.
Practical tip: Employers should review IRCC’s priority NOC list and, where possible, align job titles and duties to an eligible code before issuing offers. Candidates should upload a cover letter pointing to the expedited policy and ensure the job’s NOC appears consistently across every supporting document.
The fast-track lane applies only to employer-specific permits; open permits such as Post-Graduation Work Permits are excluded. To be triaged correctly, employers must list the exact NOC code on the Offer of Employment or the LMIA, and foreign workers must reproduce that code on their application forms. IRCC officials say the system uses those codes to auto-flag files for accelerated screening.
Canada has relied heavily on immigration to fill gaps in health-care staffing and to stabilise food-supply chains. Yet bottlenecks in permit processing have kept thousands of internationally trained nurses, personal-support workers and farm employees waiting months before they can start work. By shaving weeks off the front-end wait, Ottawa hopes to ease mounting pressure on provincial health systems and prevent further disruptions in agri-food production.
If you or your organization need hands-on support assembling the paperwork for these fast-tracked permits, VisaHQ’s Canada desk (https://www.visahq.com/canada/) can take over the administrative load—ensuring the right NOC codes appear on every form and that submissions are error-free the first time. Their online platform tracks changing IRCC rules in real time and offers dedicated specialists who can review offers of employment, LMIA decisions and worker profiles before filing, reducing the risk of delays even further.
For employers, the chief benefit is speed: hospitals facing winter staffing crunches can now deploy foreign nurses in as little as two weeks, and greenhouses can secure seasonal labour before the spring planting rush. Workers also stand to gain; priority NOC codes often overlap with Express Entry category-based draws, meaning a stint in one of the listed occupations can translate into a quicker invitation for permanent residence. Companies are nevertheless urged to double-check LMIA requirements—the new channel does not waive prevailing-wage or advertising rules.
Practical tip: Employers should review IRCC’s priority NOC list and, where possible, align job titles and duties to an eligible code before issuing offers. Candidates should upload a cover letter pointing to the expedited policy and ensure the job’s NOC appears consistently across every supporting document.
