Locally-Engaged Staff
(Source: Global Affairs Canada, Protocol Office, www.international.gc.ca)
The locally-engaged staff of a foreign mission should be Canadian citizens or permanent residents. The mission can employ individuals from the sending state only if they have come to Canada for a purpose other than working for the mission and they are granted permission from Global Affairs Canada.
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These employees are not granted any immunities, privileges or benefits under the provisions of the Vienna Convention.
Locally engaged persons are local residents who are hired by a foreign mission. There are two options available to the mission:
- With respect to the salaries of its locally engaged staff, the mission could enter into a voluntary arrangement with the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA) to make, on behalf of the employee, the deductions and remittances required under Canadian law. This would require the mission to deduct the contributions from the employee’s pay and submit a report of all deductions to the CRA.
- If the mission prefers to abstain from entering into a voluntary arrangement with the CRA, it becomes the responsibility of the locally-engaged employee to register with the CRA and to make his or her own arrangements for all required deductions or remittances. Should the employee neglect to do so, the mission is not liable for the employee’s illegal actions.