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Author Topic: Canadian Work Permits  (Read 4617 times)

Colorado David

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Canadian Work Permits
« on: January 31, 2009, 11:37:48 am »

I have crossed between the U.S. and Canada several times to shoot for a couple of clients.  I have had invitations from the travel and tourism people and have crossed at Vancouver, Edmonton, Thunder Bay, and a few other place I can't recall off the top of my head.  I have almost invariably been required to purchase a Canadian Work Permit at the Edmonton airport.  I have carried documentation from the Alberta Government that I qualified as a business traveler, was not displacing any Canadian workers, and that my income stream was entirely in the U.S. but still was required to buy the permit.  I have had the same documentation at Vancouver and Thunder Bay and was not required to get a work permit.  I think that now my passport has been flagged in the emigration computers and they just automatically send me to buy the permit.  I would really like to come to Alberta next year or the year after to shoot stock.  Stock is a speculative venture, but if I shoot with the possibility of selling an image will they require me to get a work permit?  What are the regulations for shooting in the parks?  Do you guys have to buy work permits to come to the U.S.?  Thanks.

rcdurston

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Canadian Work Permits
« Reply #1 on: January 31, 2009, 11:50:05 am »

Quote from: Colorado David
I have crossed between the U.S. and Canada several times to shoot for a couple of clients.  I have had invitations from the travel and tourism people and have crossed at Vancouver, Edmonton, Thunder Bay, and a few other place I can't recall off the top of my head.  I have almost invariably been required to purchase a Canadian Work Permit at the Edmonton airport.  I have carried documentation from the Alberta Government that I qualified as a business traveler, was not displacing any Canadian workers, and that my income stream was entirely in the U.S. but still was required to buy the permit.  I have had the same documentation at Vancouver and Thunder Bay and was not required to get a work permit.  I think that now my passport has been flagged in the emigration computers and they just automatically send me to buy the permit.  I would really like to come to Alberta next year or the year after to shoot stock.  Stock is a speculative venture, but if I shoot with the possibility of selling an image will they require me to get a work permit?  What are the regulations for shooting in the parks?  Do you guys have to buy work permits to come to the U.S.?  Thanks.
I was told years ago its where the money goes thats important. If you are American, with a US client using Canada only as a location then you shouldn't need a work permit; same goes the other way too. I always get a letter of intent from my client stipulating that the final product will stay in whatever country I originated from.
As far as the parks go, as long as you don't have a crew with you, I don't see how they couldn't tell you from a tourist?

r
« Last Edit: January 31, 2009, 11:54:05 am by rcdurston »
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Colorado David

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Canadian Work Permits
« Reply #2 on: January 31, 2009, 04:38:02 pm »

That's what I was told and what I used to think.  But the emigration officials at Edmonton said that if I was directing a shoot, I didn't need a work permit, but if I had my hands on the camera, I was displacing a Canadian worker.

As far as the parks go, I've heard some horror stories on other forums about officials harassing photographers and threatening to confiscate their equipment.  There is certainly no way to tell a professional from an amateur by the type or size of their equipment.  I have always thought that if I can shoot from a spot that anyone traveling to a park can shoot, that I don't harm the park or the park experience for anyone else, and I'm not using a crew, models, or props, then I should be able to shoot without a permit.  That is not the case in the U.S. however.  In the western U.S. National Forests and U.S.F.&W. Wildlife Refuges, the intent to make a profit (whether or not you ever do) is the test.  If you intend to sell an image from a shoot in these areas, then you must purchase a Special Use Permit.  The fees for the Special Use Permits are determined by each individual area manager and can vary a lot.  One National Wildlife Refuge charged me $100 for an annual photography permit while a National Forest (to remain nameless) charged me $150 per day.  I want to do everything legally and don't want to wind up in a Canadian Park and find out it will cost hundreds of dollars a day to photograph.

larkvi

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« Reply #3 on: February 01, 2009, 05:54:40 am »

From my experience, and those of my many border-crossing friends and colleagues, I would say that Canadian Immigration workers have a lot more leeway than their U.S. counterparts, so there is a lot of room for negotiation or going to different persons (the different bridges into Ontario have different policies, much like your experience of Vancouver and Calgary). The flip side is that a lot of people choose to enforce very draconian rules that are not necessary. I would suggest that talking to multiple people/supervisors might help you work to a more amenable solution, even if it is just because you are too much trouble (so long as you are polite).

I have actually gone to the border to get a student permit with all of the proper paperwork and been denied for no reason (though they gave me a tourist permit, to go to the University with--don't ask, it doesn't make any kind of sense)--the next time I went back it was no problem to get an extended permit for five years, with the same paperwork. It's really arbitrary.
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LukeH

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« Reply #4 on: February 01, 2009, 05:40:19 pm »

I'm thinking of going to Canada to shoot some BC landscape so would I need permits too seeing as I'm a single man operation from Australia?
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antoine_k

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« Reply #5 on: February 09, 2009, 10:33:08 am »

If you're going to be travelling frequently between the US and Canada you might join the Nexus program. https://goes-app.cbp.dhs.gov/

It's basically a pre-clearance program for customs/immigration. You can apply online and arrange a time for an interview.  At the airport, there's a separate line for Nexus members with an iris scanner for identification, and you don't usually have to talk to an agent.  Driving across the border is even simpler as they give you a card with an RFID chip, and again it's a separate line with an RFID reader.
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