Canada and Mexico have been working to develop the simplest, safest, and least costly way for workers to get their passports to the Canadian Visa office in Mexico City. The process will likely require workers to travel to Mexico City the day before they are scheduled to fly to Canada and have their visas inserted into their passports.
We are now working with the Ministry of Labour on the specific details, but once the new system is in place, there should be minimal extra delays. We anticipate that workers who currently have a "CVAC" status in the Portal will get their work permits shortly.
There are currently over 450 workers with work permits, requested for arrival in April, who do not have travel booked. Employers MUST either book travel or change the requested arrival date (refer to the Feb 8, 2024, WALI update) for these workers in the next week, or they may be reassigned to other farms.
With the change in visa requirements, airlines have reduced seat space on flights from Mexico. Once the new visas are being processed, we anticipate a significant increase in demand for plane tickets, so please book seats as soon as your workers have work permits.
Source: walicanada.ca