How to Extend Your Work Permit in Canada

Under IRPR s.183(5)-(6) (which keeps your status) and s.186(u) (which authorizes the work while you remain in Canada), if IRCC receives your application before your current permit expires, you may remain in Canada and continue working under the same conditions while it is processed.

IRCC now calls this maintained status; the older term implied status means the same thing. IRCC says that while you are on maintained status you won’t be able to renew documents issued by your province or territory, such as a driver’s licence or health card, though you can keep working with an expired SIN until IRCC decides.

While you are on maintained status, you can:

• Continue working for the same employer under the same conditions as your expiring permit
• Remain in Canada legally
• Continue to accumulate work experience for PR purposes

You cannot change employers (unless permitted by your permit type). Maintained status lasts only as long as you stay in Canada. If you leave while your application is still being processed, you may be allowed to re-enter only as a visitor, and you cannot work until your renewal is approved. A border officer decides whether you are let back in.

If you have applied for permanent residence through a qualifying program and your work permit is expiring while your PR application is in process, the Bridging Open Work Permit (BOWP) is the route IRCC provides. It is an open work permit that bridges the gap until a decision on your PR application.

IRCC lists the qualifying routes as Express Entry, the Provincial Nominee Program (through Express Entry or outside it), the Quebec skilled worker class, the Home Child Care Provider Pilot or Home Support Worker Pilot (open from 2019 to 2024), the caring for children class or caring for people with high medical needs class, the Agri-Food Pilot, and Quebec investors.

To be eligible for a BOWP:

• You live in Canada (and intend to live outside Quebec) when you apply
• You hold valid temporary resident status with a valid work permit, hold an expired work permit but maintained your status as a worker, or are eligible to restore your status and get a work permit
• You are the principal applicant on the permanent residence application
• You submitted a complete PR application and it passed the completeness check (for a PNP application outside Express Entry, it passed the eligibility assessment)
• You have your acknowledgement of receipt letter from IRCC, which you include with the BOWP application

The fee is $255 CAD in total, the open work permit fee. You can leave Canada while IRCC processes a BOWP application, but if you leave after your work permit expires, you cannot work until the new application is approved. For a PNP application, your nomination must carry no employment restrictions as a condition.