Hello,
My boyfriend and myself are desperately seeking some information.
I live in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario Canada, which is a border town of Sault Ste. Marie Michigan. My boyfriend of over 2 years lives on the American side, as he is American. I am Canadian so I live on the Canadian side...which is a 10 minute drive over the bridge.
We go back and forth every other day, with either him spending a few days here, or me spending a few days there. It is a hassle, to say the least, but we are not ready to marry just yet!
Here is our question...
The American Sault where he lives has pretty much NO jobs right now *we are late 20's by the way* and he has been seeking a job there for a few months, with no luck.

He does mainly manual labour,,,such as roofing, construction, landscaping, drywall, etc. With these types of jobs, can he get a work permit to do in Canada?

He was also offered to do a delivery job as an "independent contractor" where they drive around all day delivering things such as takeout orders and stuff. Is this type of job eligible for him to get a work permit being an "independent contractor"? Would he even need the permit to do that, as he would be paid CASH daily with that job. We are very unsure about that because he does not wanna take the job if its not legal and he needs the permit??? PLEASE help us.

,,,,but is it possible for him to obtain a work permit so that he can work on the Canadian side of the border here in Sault Ontario? He would just stay with me while working, and also spend some time at his place in Michigan.

He would be seeking one of those manual labour type jobs or the delivery job.

Can you PLEASE direct us on what we should do in this situation and if you think a permit would be granted? Eventually we plan to marry, but a working permit for say a year would work out great for now while we are still unmarried.
Please help with any info. you can provide. We are desperate for answers.

Thank you.

For the types of work that you are describing, a Labour Market Opinion will be needed in order to be eligible for a work permit. Two problems are that (1) the low skill apparently associated with these will make the viability of such a case poor as the government will believe that Canadians are available to fill such positions, and (2) that an arrangement that does not have a guaranteed wage (i.e., as implied by an independent contractor position) will not be approved.

An open work permit following approval in principle of an inland spousal sponsorship is a possibility, but as you expect this will take some time following both a marriage and the submission of an application.

I am a little confused because I have heard of lots of people who go to places like Banff or Whistler to work for the season and they have no problem getting permits to work at jobs in restaurants, etc.

If he were to get a job offer here in Canada at a restaurant, and the employer gave him a job offer because they need more workers, could it possibly be approved and he would get a work permit? Because where I live there are ALOT of those types of job openings but noone to fill them.

Is there much of a chance it could be approved in that case?

You are thinking of Youth Program visas such as those run by BUNAC or IEC. You can go to swap.ca or those organizations' web sites to learn more.