Canada work permit: what actually gets applications refused

Canada refuses a large share of the work permit applications filed from India, and the refusal letters say why. They are short, they use a fixed set of phrases, and the reasons repeat across the letters that come across our desk in Vadodara. This guide goes through them, because a file built to answer each one before it is submitted is the whole point of using a consultant.

Two things first. The decision is the visa officer's; nobody can promise a result. And the routes below are the employer-sponsored ones — a real job, with a real employer, who has done their part. If someone has offered you a "package" with a job and a visa for a fixed price, read the last section before you pay anyone.

How a work permit actually works

Most Canadian work permits are employer-specific. The employer either obtains a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) from Employment and Social Development Canada, which says no Canadian was available for the role, or hires under an LMIA-exempt category (intra-company transfers, some trade agreements, certain provincial streams). With that in hand, you apply to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for the permit itself: online, with biometrics at a VFS centre, and a medical if the role or your history requires one.

The officer decides two separate things: whether the job offer is genuine, and whether you are a genuine temporary worker who qualifies for it. Refusals come from both sides.

The reasons, in the order we see them

1. "I am not satisfied that you will leave Canada at the end of your stay"

The most common line in the letter, and the least specific. It usually means one of: no evidence of ties to India (no property, no family details, no employment history), a profile that reads as an immigration attempt dressed as a work permit, or a previous application for permanent residence that was not mentioned. The answer is a file that shows your life here — and, where you do intend to seek permanent residence later, saying so plainly through the correct dual-intent route rather than hoping it goes unnoticed.

2. The job does not match the person

The role is a senior welder; the résumé shows two years as a helper. The role needs English; there is no test score. The salary is far above what the applicant earned in India for the same work. Officers cross-read the LMIA, the contract, the résumé and the reference letters, and any gap is a refusal. Before a file goes in, we check that every claimed year of experience has a letter behind it, on letterhead, with duties and hours, and that the qualifications match what the LMIA says the role requires.

3. The LMIA was not what it seemed

An LMIA is issued to a specific employer for a specific role at a specific location. Some offers arriving in Gujarat are for an LMIA that has expired, has been used, names a different role, or does not exist. We verify the LMIA number and the employer before anything else — and we walk away from offers that do not check out, which is a service in itself.

4. Funds and settlement

You must show you can support yourself (and any family travelling with you) until the first pay. Bank statements that do not support that, unexplained large deposits, or borrowed money that appears the week before applying, are refused. Statements should be your own, stamped, and go back six months.

5. Medical and admissibility

Some roles — health care, childcare, agriculture in certain provinces — require an upfront medical examination by a panel physician. Missing it delays the application by weeks; failing to declare a condition ends it. Police certificates are needed for every country you have lived in for six months or more since the age of eighteen, and a conviction not declared is a misrepresentation finding, which bars you for five years.

6. Misrepresentation

The worst outcome, and the easiest to avoid: a document that was not genuine, a previous refusal not declared, an education certificate from an institution that does not exist. The five-year bar applies to the applicant even when an agent supplied the document. Every document in a file we submit is one we have seen the original of.

7. The application itself

Forms with fields left blank, a photograph to the wrong specification, the wrong fee, a passport with six months left. Small, mechanical, and the reason for a surprising number of refusals when people file alone.

What a well-built file contains

• The LMIA (or the exemption code) and the signed contract, verified against each other.
• Reference letters for every job on the résumé, on letterhead, with role, duties, dates, hours and salary, and a contact who will answer the phone.
• Qualification certificates, with an educational credential assessment where the stream asks for one.
• The language test the stream requires, at the score it requires.
• Six months of bank statements, stamped; the last three years of income tax returns.
• Police clearance from the Passport Seva Kendra, and any other country that applies.
• The medical, where required, done before submission.
• A short cover letter that explains the job, your background, and your plans, in plain words.

How long it takes

IRCC's processing times for work permits filed from India have ranged from eight to twenty weeks depending on the stream and the month, with the LMIA stage — which is the employer's — adding weeks before that. Biometrics appointments at VFS add their own wait. We plan your notice period around the slow case, and we tell you when a "start next month" offer is not realistic on any timeline.

The "package" problem

Recruiters selling jobs for a fee, an LMIA for a fee, or a visa for a fee are the source of most of the misrepresentation cases we see. Canadian employers do not sell jobs, and in most streams the employer must pay the recruitment costs. If you have been quoted a price for a job and a visa together, bring the offer to us before paying: checking it costs you a conversation, and it is the conversation that saves people from paying lakhs for a refusal and a five-year bar.

The Canada requirements page has the current checklist and its verified date, the work permit service page describes what the desk handles and does not, and if permanent residence is the real goal, Canada PR is a different route with a different first conversation.