Thanks for offering this valuable information.

My case is a bit peculiar.

I, a middle-level Chinese journalist, started an online weekly community newspaper for a small town in Canada in partnership with a friend, who is a Canadian permanent resident. He has studied journalism in Canada and worked for two years at a few big and small newspapers before deciding to set up his own newspaper. He did the reporting while I edited it sitting in China. For a year, it was a non-profit venture. We occasionally published special print editions too. Now it is generating small profits and has become quite popular. We plan to bring it out in print. Initially we plan to invest whatever little amount is required to publish a small newspaper though we are confident we will get sufficient advertisement revenue right from the beginning. Though I will edit and design it from China, I need to be in Canada for five-six months to start the newspaper, put in place a system, install processes and hire one or two people. Maybe also train a few contributers from the community. Ours is not a Chinese community newspaper; it caters to the whole town. I plan to apply for immigration once we have this newspaper running smoothly. My questions:

1. This is my own venture in partnership with a Canadian resident. Do I still need an LMO?

2. Can my work permit fall in the category of 'significant benefit' since it is a cultural enterprise and really a service to the community?

3. Does it fall in the 'business category' despite it involving ludicrously small amount of money?

4. What are my chances of getting a work permit?

Given the provisions governing such, and the circumstances of the case, it would not appear that the Entreprenneur or Self Employed subcategory would be applicable. An owner/operator of a business can be the subject of a Labour Market Opinion Confirmation, for example in the situation in which an immigration official is of the opinion that the case does not constitute a Significant Benefit to Canada.

It is difficult to assess the cultural or social impact from the information supplied; it would seem that there is no argument of a significant economic benefit. To whatever extent the former can be clearly demonstrated and documented, the case is viable. Otherwise, if the goal is to hire full time Canadian positions, then there seems to be a reasonable case for the LMO as well.

Finally eligibility for the work permit will have a component of your admissibility to Canada as a visitor (i.e., temporary resident). To satisfy this, an official must be of the opinion that you are likely to depart Canada upon the expiration of your work permit, which will contribute to the overall viability of the application and makes prediction of likelihood of success difficult.

I am grateful for the information. It has clarified a lot.