A work permit is often treated as the finish line. It is closer to the starting gun. From the day the regional employment centre issues the decision, the employing company picks up a set of running obligations — deadlines to conclude and file the contract, a duty to report changes, a narrow renewal window, and an exposure to penalties that is measured per foreign employee and charged to the business, not the individual. Almost every problem that arrives at a lawyer's desk in this area is a diary failure rather than a legal dispute.