Resident Permit

Hi all,
I'm Living China at the moment and I have a resident permit and the government here is telling me that I have to apply for a Z Visa again.
Now to tell you a little bit of my past, I've worked in Shenyang for one year and Dalian for another year. In Dalian I had no problem renewing my Resident Permit, but my first year had issues getting my resident permit in Shenyang.
Now I've moved to Shijiazhang, where i have obtain my Alien Employment License, because they said that since i moved from a different province i have to re-apply for my work permit again. Now that make sense, but they say that my Resident Permit is not Valid and that they need a Z Visa? if i have to do this that means i have to head back to Canada and reapply there again.
Any suggestion on how to handle this issues, do have really have to get my Z visa again?