Hi,
My husband is Norwegian and was here working on a Youth Exchange program between Canada and Norway. His permit expired Dec. 27 but be applied to extend it. His implied status 'expired' yesterday when we found out that his application was rejected. From what I understand, we can restore his status as a worker, providing that we get a positive LMO, offer of employment, and he proves that his stay will be temporary.

I've realized that it does not help that I am Canadian. We plan to apply for permanent residency (from outside Can, due to shorter processing times) but are waiting on police certificate from Panama.

My questions:
Is is possible for him to get a new work permit, even though I am Canadian? If we provide proof that he will return to Norway, could it help?

I'm assuming that information from our previous application if stored with CIC. We were quite oblivious when we applied for extension and wrote that he wanted it extended 2 yrs. Will these records work against us or do we get a fresh record?

We're unsure of what the next best step is. We are working to get an LMO but are not sure if our efforts are worth it if he'll only get rejected again?

Any suggestions?

There are two factors in his eligibility for a work permit:

1. Eligibility to work: In possession of a Canadian job offer, he will either need to be the subject of a positive Labour Market Opinion or of an exemption allowing for issuance of a work permit in the absence of such.

2. Visitor admissibility: An immigration official will have to determine that he is likely to depart Canada in the case that temporary status expires and that no other status is granted allow him to remain in Canada temporarily or permanently.

The first aspect is mandatory and is not relevant to you. Your being a Canadian can hinder the second aspect if the immigration official believes that such a tie to Canada may cause a temporary resident to overstay. It is otherwise impossible to say how your prior application may effect a future application.