Work permit applications and extensions, including open work permits for accompanying spouses and dependants.
Permits to work in Canada, for the worker rather than the employer. Employers have their own page.
Work permit applications and extensions, including open work permits for accompanying spouses and dependants.
A work permit is authorisation to work in Canada for a period of time. There are two broad kinds, and the difference matters more than almost anything else on this page.
An employer-specific permit ties you to one named employer, and usually one role and location. Most of these require the employer to first obtain a Labour Market Impact Assessment, a document showing no Canadian was available for the job. An open work permit is not tied to an employer at all — but it is not something you can simply apply for, it is available only in defined situations such as being the spouse of certain permit holders, or having graduated from an eligible Canadian program.
If you already hold a permit and want to change jobs, an employer-specific permit generally has to be amended or replaced first. Starting new work before that is authorised is a status problem, not an administrative detail.
This is what an application on this route usually involves. It is not a checklist that guarantees anything, and IRCC sets the actual requirements, which change.
Whether it fits you specifically is exactly what a consultation is for. This page cannot answer that, and does not try to.
Each route below is run by the Government of Canada, and its official page is the authoritative source for current requirements. Links go directly there.
Tied to one employer, and usually to a specific role and location. Most require an approved Labour Market Impact Assessment first.
Not tied to a named employer. Availability is restricted to defined categories rather than being a general option.
Work permits for accompanying family members, where the principal applicant's status allows it.
Youth mobility arrangements with participating countries, each with its own quota and rules.
Patterns that cause avoidable problems. None of this is advice about your own case, and avoiding all of it still does not decide an application.
Working without authorisation, including starting a new job slightly early, is a status breach with consequences well beyond the current application.
A promotion, a new location, or a change of legal employer after a merger can all take you outside what an employer-specific permit authorises.
Many occupations are regulated provincially. Immigration authorisation to work and professional authorisation to practise are two different things, and having one does not give you the other.
Applying before expiry is what allows you to keep working while a decision is pending. Applying after it is a materially worse position.
Not freely, if your permit is employer-specific. It names an employer and usually a role and location, and changing generally requires a new or amended permit before you start the new job.
An employer-specific permit ties you to a named employer. An open permit does not, but is only available in defined situations such as being the spouse of certain permit holders or a graduate of an eligible Canadian program. Open permits are a category you fall into, not an option you choose.
Most employer-specific permits require one, but a number of categories are exempt under the International Mobility Program, including certain intra-company transfers and trade-agreement categories. Establishing whether an exemption applies first can save considerable time.
Not automatically. Canadian work experience is valuable in several permanent residence programs, particularly the Canadian Experience Class, but a work permit is temporary status and PR is a separate application.
Official Government of Canada sources for everything described above. These are the authoritative statements of the requirements; this page is a plain-language summary of how the route works.
A few minutes of general questions, reviewed before you speak with the RCIC-IRB directly.
Start Your AssessmentThe assessment form is general information only. It does not give you an eligibility conclusion.
This page is general information. It is not an assessment of your eligibility, and nothing on it is immigration advice for consideration. Work-Related Services matters at ZIMMR are advised on directly by Irshad Osman, RCIC-IRB.
Verify on the CICC public register