In 2021 alone, more than 157,000 international students transitioned to permanent residency in Canada. Often, the path for permanent residence for former international students is to seek Canadian Experience under a Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) and then apply for permanent residence under a federal or provincial nomination program. Unfortunately, since the Express Entry system was paused and no candidates were invited to apply between September 2021 and July 2022, this limited significantly the opportunities for many international students to become permanent residents.  

Because of this, the government announced new special measures to help potentially 93,000 PGWP holders, whose work permit will expire between September 20, 2021 and December 31, 2022.

The chart below summarizes the different scenarios for those with work permits that expire in the timeframe above. The new work permit will be valid for a period of 18 months (or until passport expiry).

Those required to apply for a work permit, should keep in mind the following:

• Applications open August 2, 2022
• Applicants whose PGWP expired or will expire from September 20, 2021 through October 1, 2022, will need to apply manually online
• Those who applied to change their temporary status and are still in Canada are eligible to apply
• Those in Canada whose temporary status has expired, must restore status at the same time
  • Applicants are allowed to restore status even if it expired more than 90 days ago
• Those outside Canada are still eligible to apply and return to Canada after approval
  • After the initial message, they must  advise IRCC that they have left Canada and will need to apply online for a work permit
• There are no fees associated with the special measure. Those who need to apply online need to pay ONLY the work permit processing fee (and restoration fee – if applicable). However, everyone is exempt from the open work permit holder fee
• Individuals who benefited from the special PGWP extension policy last year are not eligible to extend again under this policy
• All applications for this public policy must be submitted online by December 31, 2022

Ability to Work in the Interim

Starting August 8, individuals with PGWPs that expire between September 20, 2021 and December 31, 2022 will receive an email authorization confirming that they can work while their new permit is processed. This email can be used as proof for the individual’s employer. While this email allows the individual to work, it does NOT restore expired legal temporary status.

Learn more about this policy and Study Permits with Andrew Carvajal and Chantal Desloges : https://lpen.ca/study-permits-2022/