Work permit options for international student graduates no longer eligible for PGWPs

For recent and upcoming graduates who will no longer be eligible for post-graduation work permits, or for those with expiring PGWPs, there are other options available for gaining legal status to work in Canada.

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Recent international graduates may want to consider some of the following work permit options:

• Free-trade agreement-based work permits;
• International Experience Canada (IEC) work permits;
• Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) work permits;
• Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP) work permits;
• Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) nominee or candidate work permits.
• Spousal open work permit - post-secondary studies;
• Spousal open work permit - family sponsorship.

For a high-level summary of these options, see the table below:

Work Permit Type	Summary of main eligibility criteria
Free-trade agreement based	-Must be a foreign national from a country with a free trade agreement with Canada. -Eligibility will vary depending on the agreement.
International Experience Canada (IEC)	-Must be foreign national from a country with a bilateral youth mobility agreement with Canada. -Must be aged 35 or younger (30 for some countries).
Temporary Foreign Worker Program	-Your employer must have a positive or neutral labour-market-impact assessment (LMIA). -Your employer must meet various other criteria, depending on the stream.
Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP)	-You must have a job offer and your employer must sponsor you for the AIP. -The province must endorse your job offer.
Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) candidate work permits	-Must be a candidate for a PNP program. -Requirements vary depending on the PNP.
Spousal open work permit – post-secondary studies	-Your spouse must be enrolled in a qualifying program at a Canadian post-secondary institution.
Spousal open work permit – family sponsorship	-Your spouse must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, and must have sponsored you for a submitted permanent residence application.

Once you've finished your studies, can you work after applying for a work permit?

After you have completed your study program, you can start working full-time immediately, provided that you meet all the following requirements:

• You were authorized to work off campus during your studies;
• You've applied for a work permit before your study permit expired; and
• You're awaiting a decision on your work permit application.

You must have valid status in Canada in order to apply for a work permit from within Canada.

Schedule a Free Work Permit Consultation with the Cohen Immigration Law Firm

Free-trade agreement based work permits

You may want to look at whether you’re eligible for a work permit under one of Canada’ free trade agreements.

Canada has a number of free trade agreements that allow for work permits for eligible foreign nationals under the International Mobility Program (IMP).

For example, the Canada-US-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), the successor to the North American Free-Trade Agreement (NAFTA), is one such free trade agreement.

Free trade agreements allow for special work permits for foreign nationals based on their citizenship of a country with a free trade agreement with Canada.

If you are a foreign national of a country with which Canada has a free trade agreement, it may be worth checking to see whether the agreement provides for a work permit for which you might qualify.

Schedule a Free Work Permit Consultation with the Cohen Immigration Law Firm

International Experience Canada

International Experience Canada (IEC) work permits may provide another option for some foreign nationals.

To be eligible for an IEC work permit, you must be

• A citizen of a country with a bilateral youth mobility agreement with Canada; and
• Aged less than the cut-off age for “youth” (either 35 or 30, depending on the country).

The following countries have bilateral youth mobility agreements with Canada:

There are three types of IEC work permits:

IEC Work permits	Summary of eligibility criteria	Employer-specific or open?
Working Holiday	-Financial resources. -Health insurance.	Open
Young Professionals	-Financial resources. -Health insurance. -Job offer.	Employer-specific
International Co-op (Internship)	-Financial resources. -Health insurance. -Work placement.	Employer-specific

The Working Holiday permit has fewer requirements and allows you to work for any employer in Canada.

For the Young Professionals work permit, you must have a job offer from an employer, and the job must count toward your professional development. The job must usually be in National Occupation Classification (NOC) TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3. You might be able to qualify with a NOC 4 job, provided that it's in your field of study.

The International Co-Op (Internship) permit requires that you be a post-secondary student with a job offer for a work placement that is required as part of your program of study.

Your nationality will affect

• Which type(s) of IEC work permit you may be eligible for; and
• Other conditions and restrictions on the work permit (e.g., length of work permit, number of times you can participate).

The Working Holiday permit is a popular program, and there are often more applicants than there are available permits.

When you apply to Working Holiday, you have a chance to be drawn from the pool of applicants by a lottery. You can check IRCC’s website to get an idea of your chances of success based on the size of the pool and the number of applicants from your country.

In the case o Young Professionals and International Co-Op work permits, there are usually more available permits than there are applicants, making success extremely likely.

So if you qualify for either of the employer-specific job offer-based IEC work permits, you may wish to apply for those over Working Holiday, in order to increase your chances of success.

Schedule a Free Work Permit Consultation with the Cohen Immigration Law Firm

Temporary Foreign Worker Program

If you’re not eligible for an FTA-based or IEC work permit, you may want to consider pursuing a work permit through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP).

TFWP work permits are employer-specific (closed) work permits, meaning that they authorize you to work only for the employer specified on your work permit.

To get a TFWP work permit, you’ll required the support of your employer, and your employer must conduct a labour market impact assessment (LMIA) with Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC).

This LMIA must return a positive or neutral result, meaning that ESDC has determined that hiring a foreign national for that role will not negatively impact the Canadian labour market.

Your employer may have to advertise the job in order to go through the LMIA process. They will also need to meet certain additional requirements depending on the stream of the TFWP.

For certain occupations and employers, the Global Talent Stream of the TFWP allows your employer to skip advertising the job, and provides for much faster processing of your work permit application.

As of September 26 2024, ESDC has suspended processing of LMIAs for the low-wage stream of the TFWP for jobs in census metropolitan areas (CMAs) with an unemployment rate greater than 6%.

Atlantic Immigration Program

The Atlantic Immigration Program (AIP) is a pathway to permanent residence (PR) that also provides work permits to eligible candidates.

To be eligible for the AIP, you must have a job offer from a designated employer in one of Canada’s Atlantic provinces, and you must meet additional requirements around

• Language proficiency;
• Education;
• Work experience; and/or
• Settlement funds.

Your employer must also get your job offer endorsed by the province in which you intend to settle.

Once you’ve submitted your application for PR through the AIP, you can apply for an employer-specific work permit that can be valid for up to 2 years.

Canada’s Atlantic provinces are

• New Brunswick;
• Newfoundland and Labrador;
• Nova Scotia; and
• Prince Edward Island (PEI).

Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) nominee or candidate work permits

Some Provincial Nominee Program (PNPs) can allow you to obtain a work permit.

For example, the British Columbia Provincial Nominee Program (BC PNP) will issue a work permit support letter to nominees.

Effective August 11, 2024, the federal government implemented a temporary public policy allowing provinces to provide work permits to PNP candidates. So far, the following provinces and territories have implemented this program:

• Alberta;
• Manitoba; and
• Yukon

In addition to meeting various other requirements, you must receive a support letter from the province or territory to be eligible for this work permit. The temporary public policy providing work permits for PNP candidates is currently set to expire on December 31, 2024, but may be revoked by the government at any time.

Spousal open work permit – post-secondary studies

You may be eligible for a spousal open work permit if your spouse is on a study permit, enrolled as a student at a Canadian post-secondary institution. Your spouse must be enrolled in either

• A master’s or PhD program of at least 16 months in duration; or
• A professional degree program in an eligible field of study.

The eligible fields of study for professional degree programs are as follows:

• Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS, DMD).
• Bachelor of Law or Juris Doctor (LLB, JD, BCL).
• Doctor of Medicine (MD).
• Doctor of Optometry (OD).
• Pharmacy (PharmD, BS, BSc, BPharm).
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM).
• Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN, BSN).
• Bachelor of Nursing Science (BNSc).
• Bachelor of Nursing (BN).
• Bachelor of Education (BEd).
• Bachelor of Engineering (BEng, BE, BASc).

To apply, you’ll need to provide proof of your spouse’s student status, along with proof of your relationship.

This open work permit will normally be valid for the same duration as your spouse’s study permit.

Schedule a Free Work Permit Consultation with the Cohen Immigration Law Firm

Spousal open work permit – family sponsorship

If your spouse, being a Canadian citizen or permanent resident, has sponsored you for permanent residence, you can apply for an open work permit.

To apply for this work permit, you must have submitted your application for permanent residence, and must be living in Canada with your sponsor with valid temporary resident status.

What is the post-graduation work permit (PGWP)?

The post-graduation work permit (PGWP) is an open work permit provided to foreign nationals who have graduated from Canadian post-secondary institutions.

If you’ve graduated from an eligible program from a designated learning institution (DLI), you may be eligible for a PGWP valid for up to three years (depending on the length of your program).

Who is no longer eligible for PGWPs?

You might have first enrolled in a program at a Canadian post-secondary institution with the expectation of becoming eligible for a PGWP after completing your studies, but now no longer be eligible.

As of November 1, 2024, the Canadian federal government has changed the eligibility criteria for the PGWP.

For applications prior to November 1, 2024, nearly all full-time post-secondary programs at DLIs greater than 8 months in length could qualify graduates for a PGWP.*

For applications after 1 November, 2024, if your program of study was a college program or a university vocational program, you’ll only be eligible for a PGWP if your field of study aligns with one of Canada’s labour market needs.

University bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD programs have no such field of study restrictions for PGWP eligibility.

*The exception to eligible programs would be language study (e.g. studying English or French as a second language).

Schedule a Free Work Permit Consultation with the Cohen Immigration Law Firm