Remote Work and Immigration: The Rules Nobody Explains

I work at an AI startup in Vancouver. And you know what I see every single day? Colleagues who live here in Canada but work for companies in the United States, in Europe, in Brazil. Tech people who think that just because the laptop is on the kitchen table and Slack is open, everything’s fine. That remote is remote, no matter where the company’s server sits. That the Canadian government doesn’t care where the money comes from as long as the taxes get paid.

Man, I need to be honest with you: it’s all wrong.

Working remotely for a foreign company while you’re in Canada has specific immigration rules. Rules almost nobody explains properly, that don’t show up on the first Google search, and that can wreck your whole process if you don’t pay attention. And the worst part? Most people only find this out when they’re already in the middle of Express Entry and get a documentation request that makes no sense at all, like a request for a police certificate from a country you’ve never set foot in.

If you’re a dev, a data analyst, a designer, a product manager, or anyone in tech who works remotely, this article is for you. I’ll explain exactly what happens, what to declare, and where the traps are.

The basic rule: where your employer is matters more than where you sit

This is the part that confuses everyone. On Express Entry, when you declare your work experience, the system asks for the employer’s country. And the correct answer is not the country where you’re physically working, it’s the country where the company is registered.

So if you live in Vancouver but work remotely for an American company, the country you select is the United States. Not Canada. It doesn’t matter that you wake up at 7 a.m. in Kitsilano, grab coffee on Commercial Drive, and work from your living room. To IRCC, your employer is American, and your experience is foreign work experience.

And here comes the first surprise: when you select a foreign country as the employer’s country, the system can automatically trigger a request for a police certificate from that country. Even if you’ve never lived there. Even if you’ve never set foot in that country in your life. Because the system reads it as you having a professional tie to that country.

Picture the face of the Brazilian dev in Toronto who works remotely for a company in Berlin and gets a request for a police certificate from Germany. He’s never been to Germany. But to the system, the tie exists. And now he has to chase down that document, or include a detailed letter of explanation clearing up the situation.

How do you declare remote work on Express Entry?

When you go to fill out your Express Entry profile, declaring remote work demands extra care. Let me give you the step by step of what you need to do:

1. Employer’s country: select the country where the company is registered, not Canada. This holds even if you work from your apartment in Montreal.

2. Letter of explanation: include a detailed letter explaining the remote work arrangement. This letter needs to cover:

• What kind of work you do remotely
• Where the company is physically located
• Where you are physically located
• That the company acknowledges and authorizes the remote work

3. Supporting documentation: along with the letter, gather:

• Contract or remote work agreement
• Proof that the employer authorizes remote work
• Tax records showing fiscal compliance
• Proof of incorporation or corporate registration, if applicable

4. Work address: when you work remotely from home in Canada, use your residential address as the place of work. In the letter of explanation, include the company’s full details: address, phone, sector. Gather pay slips, T4, and a reference letter.

Sounds like too much paperwork? It is. But if you don’t do it right, you fall into that dangerous territory of misrepresentation, and as of May 2026, the consequence of misrepresentation is still 5 years unable to submit anything to Canada (IRPA s.40, unchanged since 2013). It’s not worth the risk, you get me?

Working for a foreign company doesn’t count as Canadian experience

This is the part that hurts for tech people. You live in Canada, you pay rent in Canada, you shop at Superstore, you grab coffee at Tim Hortons, but if your employer is from abroad, the work experience is not considered Canadian for Express Entry.

In the CRS, there are two types of experience points: points for Canadian experience (core points) and points for foreign experience (skill transferability). If you work remotely for a company abroad, your points go into the foreign experience category, even while living here.

This directly impacts your CRS. Canadian experience is worth more points in the system, especially when combined with other factors like language and education. So that dev working remotely for an American company, living in Vancouver, could be losing precious points without even knowing.

The lesson? If immigration is the priority, seriously consider looking for a job with a Canadian company. Or at least understand exactly how this affects your score before you make career decisions.

How does simultaneous Canadian and foreign work work?

Now comes the part few people know about, and one that can completely change the strategy for anyone working in tech.

As of February 2025, IRCC officially confirmed: there is nothing in the legislation that prevents someone from declaring Canadian and foreign work experience simultaneously. This confirmation came in official responses in both 2024 and 2025.

In practice, this means that if you work for a Canadian company AND, at the same time, do remote work for a foreign company, you can potentially earn CRS points for both experiences. Canadian experience points AND skill transferability points for foreign experience. At the same time.

But, and here the “but” is enormous, there are clear rules:

• You cannot combine two Canadian experiences at the same time (section 15(6) of the Ministerial Instructions)
• You cannot combine two foreign experiences at the same time (section 25(4))
• But one Canadian plus one foreign: currently allowed

And there’s a hugely important detail: IRCC has already stated that this possibility is “under review”. In other words, it could be removed at any moment through future changes to the legislation. If you fit this situation, the window may be closing.

What are the risks of declared remote work?

If you’re going to declare simultaneous work, Canadian and foreign, you need to understand that the level of scrutiny is a different beast. The immigration officer needs to believe that you’re capable of working the combined hours of both jobs, sustained over 52 weeks.

The numbers: each job needs at least 30 hours per week to count as valid experience. If it’s two jobs, we’re talking about 60 to 80 hours per week. For a whole year. And the officer needs to believe that this is real and sustainable.

This is where what I call the “convenient 30 hours” trap comes in. If both of your jobs are declared at exactly 30 hours per week each, the bare minimum, that raises a red flag immediately. To the officer, it looks like the numbers were calculated to land right on the threshold. Arrangements that are “too convenient” attract extra scrutiny.

What you need to document if you go down this path:

• Proof that you actually perform the principal functions (lead statement and a substantial number of the main duties) of both roles simultaneously
• Documentation of the hours worked and how the time is split
• Tax compliance in both jurisdictions
• Pay slips, T4s, and records of employment from both jobs

Man, there’s no point declaring 60 hours a week if your T4s show income consistent with 20. IRCC cross-checks everything, especially after Bill C-12, which enabled data sharing between government agencies. CRA, ESDC, IRCC, CBSA, everyone talks to each other now.

How does address affect LMIA and PNP in remote work?

Remote work creates a specific mess with addresses and location that can cause you problems depending on the type of work permit you hold.

Open work permit: If you have an open work permit, the risk is lower. You can work remotely with more flexibility, as long as you document everything properly.

LMIA-based work permit: Here things get complicated. If your work permit is based on an LMIA, check whether the LMIA listed your residential address as the place of work. If the LMIA says you work at the company’s office on Bay Street in Toronto, but you actually work from home in Mississauga, you’ve got a compliance problem. The place of work declared on the LMIA needs to match where you actually work.

Provincial programs (PNP): This is another trap. Many provincial programs require the work to be performed in specific locations within the province, and the salary requirements are based on location. If you work remotely from Calgary but the company is registered in Vancouver, which location counts? That ambiguity can create serious problems in your provincial application.

How do taxes work for remote work in Canada?

I’m not an accountant and I won’t pretend to be. But I have to mention this because it’s a fundamental part of the documentation.

If you work remotely for a foreign company while living in Canada, you have tax obligations in both jurisdictions. That means:

• Declaring income in Canada (CRA)
• Potentially declaring it in the employer’s country
• Checking whether there’s a tax treaty between the countries to avoid double taxation
• Keeping documentation of every payment received

This tax compliance isn’t just a tax matter, it’s an immigration matter. IRCC can request your tax records as part of the Express Entry documentation. If it doesn’t match, if there’s an inconsistency, if it looks like you’re hiding income, that’s a problem. And now, with data sharing between CRA and IRCC, the chances of a discrepancy going unnoticed are basically zero.

Hire an accountant who understands international taxation. Seriously. It’s an investment that can save your immigration process.

What practical advice is there for people working remotely in tech?

I’m talking straight to you, the dev, the data person, the product manager, the designer. Because we live in a world where remote work is the norm, where it’s normal to have an offer from a San Francisco company paying in US dollars while you live in Toronto. And that normality of the tech job market simply isn’t reflected in the immigration rules.

So here’s what I recommend:

1. If PR is the priority, prioritize a Canadian employer. CRS points for Canadian experience are worth more. You build up experience that counts directly toward CEC and FSWP. And you avoid the whole headache of documenting a foreign employer.

2. If you already work remotely for a company abroad, document EVERYTHING. Contract, remote work agreement, pay slips, proof of bank transfers, T4, reference letter. Don’t wait for IRCC to ask, have it all ready before you submit.

3. If you’re going to declare simultaneous work, run the numbers. 30 hours minimum per job, 52 weeks a year, documentation for both. And know that this possibility can be removed at any moment. Don’t build your entire immigration strategy on top of something the government has already said is “under review”.

4. Don’t cut corners on the letter of explanation. The letter of explanation is your space to give the officer context on your situation. Be clear, detailed, and honest. Explain the remote work arrangement, why it makes sense, and how you stay compliant with all the rules.

5. Use your residential address as the place of work. If you work from home, home is where you work. Don’t invent a corporate address that isn’t your real place of work. Absolute transparency.

6. Mind the LMIA. If your work permit is based on an LMIA, check that the place of work declared matches reality. If you switched to remote work after the LMIA was issued, that may need an update.

The real talk on remote work and immigration

The tech job market is global. The immigration rules are national. And that mismatch creates a gray zone where a lot of good people get lost, not out of bad faith, but for lack of information.

I’m writing this as someone who’s in the middle of the process, man. As someone who works in tech, who gets the appeal of a salary in US dollars, and who at the same time has an eye on PR. Every career decision you make today affects your immigration profile tomorrow. Choosing between a remote job that pays more and a Canadian job that pays less isn’t just a financial decision, it’s an immigration decision.

The system wasn’t built with us in mind. It wasn’t built with people who work from anywhere with a laptop and good internet in mind. But the rules exist, and ignoring them is not an option.

Document everything. Declare everything. Hire an accountant. And when you’re in doubt about what to put on the form, put more, not less. Nobody ever lost a visa for being too transparent.

I got your back on this journey, and I know it’s heavy. But between not knowing and knowing, I’d rather you know. Now you know. Do the right thing.