‘Flagpoling’ refers to a situation where a foreign national is physically in Canada, and, rather than renew his/her status through the inland system, exits Canada at a border crossing, and immediately re-enters to effectively ‘renew’ his/her status. For our purposes, we are speaking of foreign workers in Canada. Note that the procedure to ‘renew’ is different than the substance – there must still be a legitimate underlying basis to a work permit application, e.g., LMIA, ICT, etc. [As an aside, Canadian immigration authorities (even prior to COVID) have sometimes frowned on this process as it may clog their ports of entry, and in some cases, have restricted flagpoling to certain days of the week; but it is technically a permissible process under relevant regulatory authorities.]
When COVID measures were put into place, the right to flagpole (on any day of the week) was eliminated.
Without much fanfare, it seems that Canadian immigration authorities will now allow flagpoling. As per https://bit.ly/2GDs8bs, recently updated, an applicant may flagpole if they otherwise meet the procedural and substantive requirements to seek a work permit at a port of entry, and are entering from the United States – EVEN if they just left Canada. Previously, COVID guidelines allowed entry from the United States for non-visa nationals, but not if it was a flagpoling situation.
However, there is a catch. That returning foreign worker must now meet the 14-day COVID-based quarantine requirements, if applicable. Such requirements would not be applicable only if a person is in an essential service. Note that where a person can work from home or other place of isolation, this may allow the person to effectively carry on as they were, while quarantining. Note as well, that whether or not a person can carry out any remote duties while quarantining, the employer is still responsible for any salary and other commitments.
All the above being said, there are also current measures in place to expedite certain work permit applications inland, for instance, where someone is changing employers, which may alleviate some or all of the issues relevant to flagpoling in some cases.
This development is new, and it is not clear how officers at ports of entry are implementing it. Proper consideration should be had before utilizing flagpoling procedures.
The information in this article is for general purposes only, and not intended as legal advice for any particular situation.