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Conner Lantz
Keymaster
Post count: 4836

I have no knowledge of immigration laws but what I do know is that employers are not only allowed but required to verify that employees are eligible to work in Canada. So, assuming that the study permit you originally relied on to verify his eligibility has now expired, you can and must insist that he provide new evidence of his eligibility to work in Canada. But here’s where my ignorance of immigration law gets in the way. I’m just not sure what the rules are for these bridge situations when an employee is between permits and whether they’re entitled to a grace period. But even assuming that they are, the employer would surely have the right to require verification that the employee has applied for a work permit or other authorization to work in Canada and that failure to provide such verification would be just cause to terminate without notice, severance, etc.
Again, this is just the educated guess of one lawyer who knows employment but not immigration laws. To the extent this scenario involves a hybrid of both laws, relying on it is probably inadvisable. Still, I hope I at least helped clarify the employment law aspects. Glenn