Canada's Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has extended the deadline to apply for an open work permit to December 31, 2026, giving eligible applicants more time to maintain their status while their permanent residence cases are processed. The extension applies to people who submitted permanent residence (PR) applications in 2021 under the temporary resident to permanent resident (TR-PR) pathway and are still waiting for a decision.
Eligibility for the Open Work Permit Extension
Those who qualify can continue living and working in Canada for any employer in any occupation during the processing period. Family members of eligible applicants are also covered under this extension. IRCC published five requirements that applicants must meet to qualify for the open work permit.
Requirement 1: Residency in Canada
The applicant must currently live in Canada. Those residing outside the country at the time of application are not eligible.
Requirement 2: Application Under a TR-PR Pathway
The applicant must have previously applied under one of the TR-PR pathways and received confirmation from IRCC that the PR application was successfully submitted. The eligible streams include workers with recent Canadian work experience in essential occupations (health and non-health), French-speaking workers in the same category, recent international graduates from Canadian post-secondary institutions, French-speaking international graduates, and applicants who used an alternative format such as paper, Braille, or large print.
Requirement 3: Authorisation to Work at Time of Application
At the time the applicant submitted their PR pathway application, they must have been legally authorised to work in Canada. This includes holding a valid work permit, an authorisation to work without a permit, or an authorisation to work under a public policy.
Requirement 4: Language Requirements
When applying under the PR pathway, the applicant must have met the language requirements specific to their chosen stream. Valid results from an approved language test must have been in place at the time of application. Applicants who applied under one of the French-speaking streams must have used results from an approved French language test.
Requirement 5: Immigration Status at Time of Work Permit Application
When applying for the open work permit, the applicant must either hold valid temporary resident status, have applied to extend their status before it expired (commonly referred to as 'maintained status'), or be eligible to restore their status. The guidance notes that refugee claimants holding an open work permit and awaiting a decision from the Immigration Refugee Board, or appealing such a decision, are not considered temporary residents for this purpose.
In a related story, Legit.ng reported that Canada had extended its open work permit deadline for permanent resident applicants. Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that Canada had extended 1,000 invitations to apply for its permanent residency through the Express Entry System. Candidates needed a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System score of 523 to qualify, making it one of the more selective CEC draws recorded this year. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada published ministerial instructions confirming that the round took place at 10:13:44 UTC.
