Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has extended its temporary public policy allowing temporary resident (TR) to permanent resident (PR) pathway applicants to receive longer open work permits (OWPs) while their applications are in process.
This policy also extends the eligibility of spouses, common-law partners, and dependent children of principal PR applicants for OWPs.
This temporary public policy has been extended to December 31, 2026.
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The TR to PR pathway was a limited-time immigration pathway that allowed foreign workers with experience in essential occupations, health/health services professions, OR recent graduates of a Canadian post-secondary institution to apply for PR. This pathway closed in 2021.
Applicants still in the PR process may continue to benefit from the extended OWP policy.
Applicants to this PR pathway who received an Acknowledgement of Receipt (AOR) from the department on their application, and who can provide valid language test results and proof of authorized work, can now apply for an additional OWP until the end of 2026.
Eligibility criteria for PR applicants to apply for an OWP
For a principal PR applicant to be eligible to receive an OWP under this policy, they must:
- Have temporary resident status (including maintained status) or be eligible to restore their temporary resident status;
- (If applicable) hold a work permit that has less than four months validity when applying;
- Have submitted an OWP application online through an IRCC secure account under this public policy;
- Indicate on their application which PR public policy they have applied under initially as part of the TR to PR pathway;
- At the time when they had applied for permanent residence, have held legal work authorization*, and have obtained a specific language ability** on an IRCC-approved language test; and
- Have received email confirmation from IRCC that their PR application under a selected public policy*** was received and was within the allotted cap for that policy; OR have received a letter from the Client Support Centre (CSC) provided when an alternative application format (e.g., paper copy) was requested by IRCC.
The initial PR application submitted by the applicant cannot have been withdrawn or rejected before applying for this OWP—only applicants with applications currently in process will be considered.
*Legal work authorizations can include, but are not limited to:
- A valid work permit;
- Authorization to work under a public policy; and
- Authorization to work under section R186 of the regulations.
**Specific levels of language test results are as follows:
| Stream | Minimum language requirement |
|---|---|
| Workers in Canada: Health care and Workers in Canada: Essential non-health care | Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) or Niveaux de Compétence Linguistique Canadiens (NCLC) level 4 in either English or French. |
| International graduates from a Canadian institution | CLB/NCLC level 5 in English or French. |
| French-speaking workers in Canada: Health care and French-speaking workers in Canada: Essential non-health care | NCLC level 4 in French. |
| French-speaking international graduates from a Canadian institution | NCLC level 5 in French. |
***Temporary public policies under which applications can build eligibility under this extension policy can be found on IRCC’s website.
Work permit holders who apply for an OWP under this policy need to pay the work permit processing fee but do not need to pay the open-work permit holder fee usually associated with OWP applications.
Eligibility criteria for family members to receive an OWP under this policy
Family members of principal applicants (as defined below) may be eligible for an OWP if they meet the eligibility conditions set out below.
For family members of the principal applicant to be eligible for an OWP under this policy, they must:
- Have submitted an OWP application online through an IRCC Secure Account and have included the Unique Client Identifier (UCI) of their principal applicant family member in the application;
- Be in Canada when they submit their work permit application;
- Be a genuine family member of the principal applicant:
- a spouse or common-law partner;
- a dependent child* of either the principal applicant or of their spouse/common-law partner; or
- a dependent child of a dependent child.
- Have been included as an accompanying family member in the principal applicant’s PR application;
- Be 18 years of age or older at the time that the work permit application is submitted; and
- Have valid temporary resident status or be eligible to restore their temporary resident status if they are in Canada at the time of submitting their application.
*For Canadian immigration, a dependent child is defined as:
- Under 22 years of age; and
- Not married or in a common-law relationship.
Children who are 22 or older may qualify as “over-age” dependents if they:
- Have depended on their parents for financial support since before they reached the age of 22; and
- Cannot financially support themselves due to a mental or physical condition.
If a principal applicant has had their PR application rejected, IRCC will also refuse all associated work permit applications.
Schedule a Free Work Permit Consultation with the Cohen Immigration Law Firm