Sure.
There are two ways to go about it. The first issue that employers need to work through is whether or not they need a labour market opinion from human resources and skills development. We've set up a series of offices across the country attached to our regional offices where employers can seek that first opinion. They'll say they need somebody to do job X, and ask if they need to go to HRSDC, and within five business days we would tell them yes or no. If they're able to move forward to hire a temporary foreign worker without a labour market opinion, they can advise the worker overseas, issue him or her the letter of offer, and the worker would approach our office overseas and apply for the work permit and move forward with a medical, if required, and maybe not. Most of the work would be done quickly overseas.
If a labour market opinion is required by HRSDC for reasons of labour market protection, or if there are concerns about Canadians being available to do the job, the employers would have to demonstrate to HRSDC that they have advertised for three weeks, I think, and have not been able to find a Canadian or permanent resident to do the job. They would have to demonstrate that the job was legitimate and that they have the wherewithal to fulfill the obligations of the contract.