Already in Canada on a work permit or PGWP? See your path to PR

Start with the date. The expiry date on your work permit is the day you must stop working. In most cases it is also the day your status ends. If there is a "Must leave Canada by" date, your status ends on that date instead. Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/work-canada/restore.html

A PGWP cannot be renewed. IRCC calls it a one-time opportunity. The one exception is when you got a shorter PGWP because your passport was about to expire. In that case you can extend it with your new passport. Source: https://ircc.canada.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=676

The options I usually compare:

• A new employer-specific work permit. Your employer may need a new LMIA or an offer of employment for an LMIA-exempt category. More on the LMIA timing below.
• An open work permit as a spouse or partner, if your spouse or partner is a worker who qualifies. See the spouse section below.
• A bridging open work permit (BOWP), but only after you have applied for PR and received your acknowledgement of receipt. Having an Express Entry profile is not enough.
• The OINP Ontario Workforce Priority stream, if an Ontario employer will start the process for a permanent, full-time job.
• A study permit, if studying fits your plan.
• Changing to visitor status with a visitor record, if you need to stay while you wait and you can stop working.

IRCC says to apply at least 30 days before your permit expires. Its own advice for people waiting for an ITA is direct: don't let your work permit expire while you wait. Extend it. Sources: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/work-canada/extend.html and https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/work-canada/pr-work-permits/bridging.html

Yes, if you applied to extend or change your work permit before it expired, and you stay in Canada. This is called maintained status. You keep working under the same conditions as your current permit. On an employer-specific permit, that means the same employer, job and work location. Open work permit holders can still change employers.

If you apply online, you must submit before midnight UTC on the day your permit expires. UTC midnight comes in the evening in Ontario, so don't leave it to the last hour.

Two details people miss:

• Online applicants get a work permit extension letter to show their employer. PGWP holders don't get this letter.
• While on maintained status you can't renew your Ontario driver's licence or health card. Renew them before your permit expires.

If you applied for a study permit or visitor record instead, you must stop working on the day your work permit expires. Sources: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/work-canada/extend/apply.html and https://ircc.canada.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=188

You may be able to, if you apply within 90 days of losing your status and you followed the conditions of your permit. You must stop working until your status is restored and a new work permit is issued. There is no guarantee of approval. After 90 days you would normally have to leave Canada and apply from outside. There is a limited exception for workers with an open work permit support letter from a participating province.

Fees listed by IRCC on Oct 30, 2026: work permit processing $155, open work permit holder fee $100 if it is an open permit, biometrics $85 if you need them, plus the restoration fee (see the IRCC fee list: https://ircc.canada.ca/english/information/fees/fees.asp). Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/work-canada/restore.html

IRCC also asks for a separate page explaining why you stayed in Canada longer than allowed. I write these as a Submission Letter (CAD 250).

My longer post covers every expiry scenario, including changing employers and refusals: https://www.colenimmigration.ca/blog/canadian-work-permit-expired-options

You can ask to change from worker to visitor status with a visitor record. IRCC says to apply at least 30 days before your current status expires. As a visitor you can't work. Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/visit-canada/extend-stay/eligibility.html

For the CEC, IRCC counts work you did in Canada while you were authorized to work. The CEC rules I checked don't list a valid work permit at the time you apply. So a visitor record does not by itself erase the work you already did. But timing matters. CEC experience must fall in the 3 years before you apply. A job offer or other points can also depend on a valid permit. This is a case to review with your dates in front of us. Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/who-can-apply/canadian-experience-class.html

The Canadian Experience Class needs at least 1 year of skilled work, or 1,560 hours, in Canada in the 3 years before you apply. IRCC's rules on how hours count:

• Full-time: up to 30 hours a week for 12 months equals 1,560 hours. Hours above 30 a week don't speed it up.
• Part-time counts. For example, 15 hours a week for 24 months equals 1,560 hours. You can combine as many part-time jobs as you need.
• More than one full-time job: still capped at 30 hours a week combined.
• The work must be in TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3. It can be in more than one job or NOC. Your duties must match the NOC lead statement and most of the main duties.
• It must be paid and done while you were authorized to work in Canada. If you worked remotely, you must have been physically in Canada and working for a Canadian employer.

What does not count:

• Self-employment. Some physicians are the only exception.
• Work while you were a full-time student, including co-op terms.
• Volunteer work and unpaid internships.
• Work you were not legally allowed to do.

The CEC has no education requirement. You do need approved language test results that meet the minimum in all 4 abilities. Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/who-can-apply/canadian-experience-class.html

From November 3, 2026, Express Entry adds new CRS points for Canadian work experience in high-wage occupations and changes how job offers are scored. I explain it here: https://www.colenimmigration.ca/blog/express-entry-job-offer-crs-points-2026 Official source: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/changes.html

If your CRS is too low for the draws you see, read this before you give up: https://www.colenimmigration.ca/blog/low-crs-score-canada-immigration

Express Entry also invites people by category. The current categories on canada.ca are French-language proficiency, healthcare and social services, STEM, trades, education, transport, physicians with Canadian work experience, senior managers with Canadian work experience, researchers with Canadian work experience, and skilled military recruits.

For most occupation categories you need at least 12 months of full-time work in the past 3 years, or the same amount part-time. The 12 months don't need to be continuous. They must be in a single occupation on that category's list. Six months as a nurse aide plus six months as an LPN does not add up for this purpose, even if both NOCs are on the list. For physicians, senior managers and researchers, the work must be in Canada. For the others it can be in Canada or abroad.

Each category lists exact NOC codes, and the lists change. Check your NOC against the current table before you count on a category draw. Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/rounds-invitations/category-based-selection.html

1. You have 60 days to submit your PR application. Start right away.
2. Check your score again before you submit. If your work permit expired, a job offer ended, or a language test expired, your score may drop. If it falls below the round's cutoff, IRCC says to decline the invitation. If you apply anyway, it will be refused.
3. Upload the documents on your personal checklist. Most people need police certificates. Other common ones are marriage or common-law forms, birth certificates for children, and certified translations of anything not in English or French. A family member or your consultant can't do your translations.
4. Do the medical exam with a panel physician. If you did one in the past 5 years and live in Canada, you may not need a new one.
5. Pay the fees in your IRCC account: processing fee, right of permanent residence fee and biometrics.
6. After you submit, you get an acknowledgement of receipt (AOR). That letter is what opens the door to a bridging open work permit.

Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/apply-permanent-residence.html

More on the whole PR process: https://www.colenimmigration.ca/blog/canadian-permanent-residency-application-process Express Entry overview: https://www.colenimmigration.ca/express-entry

A BOWP lets you keep working while IRCC decides your PR application. For Express Entry (CEC, FSW or FST), you can apply when all of these are true:

• You live in Canada and plan to live outside Quebec.
• You have a valid work permit, or you are on maintained status as a worker, or you are eligible to restore your status.
• You are the principal applicant on the PR application.
• You submitted a complete PR application, it passed the completeness check, and you have your acknowledgement of receipt (AOR) letter.

An ITA alone is not enough. You need the AOR. An Express Entry profile is not a PR application.

You apply as a work permit extension, choose "Open work permit", and pay the work permit processing fee and the open work permit holder fee. On Oct 30, 2026, IRCC listed those as $155 and $100. Upload your AOR in the "Client information" field.

If your PR came through a provincial nomination, the rules change. A nomination letter is needed. Your nomination must not restrict your employment. For a PNP application made outside Express Entry, IRCC only starts the BOWP after it confirms you meet basic PR eligibility.

Careful with travel. If your permit expires while you are outside Canada, you lose your status. You also need valid status in Canada when IRCC decides the BOWP. Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/work-canada/pr-work-permits/bridging.html

If you search for "OINP Employer Job Offer: Foreign Worker", "International Student" or "In-Demand Skills", those stream names are old. Ontario says the new Ontario Workforce Priority stream has launched and all other OINP streams are now closed (ontario.ca, updated Oct 27, 2026).

How the Workforce Priority stream works with a job offer:

• Your employer starts it. They submit a job offer in the OINP Employer Portal. You get a job offer ID.
• You register an expression of interest within 30 days of the employer's submission.
• If invited, your employer has 14 days to apply for approval of the position. You have 17 days to submit your application, and only after your employer submits theirs.
• The job must be full-time and permanent in Ontario and meet the wage level for its location.
• For a TEER 0 to 3 job, one way to qualify is 6 months of consecutive, paid, full-time work in that same position in the last 12 months. Recent Ontario graduates may need 3 months. There are other ways too.
• From inside Canada you need legal status when you apply. Maintained status is accepted.
• Self-employed people are not eligible, except some self-employed physicians.

Your employer has to meet its own rules too, including at least 3 years in active business and a business premises in Ontario where you will work.

A nomination is not PR. If you are nominated, you apply to IRCC. In Express Entry, an accepted nomination adds 600 points. Sources: https://www.ontario.ca/page/ontario-immigrant-nominee-program-oinp and https://www.ontario.ca/page/ontario-workforce-priority-stream

My OINP page: https://www.colenimmigration.ca/oinp If your employer said no: https://www.colenimmigration.ca/blog/employer-wont-support-oinp

Your employer should apply for the LMIA first, so it comes back in time. IRCC lets you apply for the extension without the LMIA in hand only if both of these are true:

• your permit expires in less than two weeks, and
• your employer has already submitted a complete LMIA application.

You then include proof of a valid job offer and proof that the LMIA was requested. IRCC won't decide your permit until it receives the LMIA. Source: https://ircc.canada.ca/english/helpcentre/answer.asp?qnum=701&top=17

This is where my employer work helps. I support employers with high-wage LMIAs, and Colen Immigration holds an Ontario recruiter licence (REC-0000018198). If your employer wants to keep you, we can plan the LMIA and your extension together, so they line up with your PR timeline.

From November 3, 2026, you no longer need an LMIA for a job offer to count in Express Entry. That does not change the LMIA rules for getting or extending a work permit. Work permits and PR selection are separate. Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/documents/job-offer.html

It depends on your situation as the principal worker.

• You applied for PR and hold a work permit issued because of that application (for example a BOWP). Your spouse may qualify for an open work permit. Your permit must be valid for at least 6 months after IRCC receives your spouse's application.
• You are a high-skilled worker and have not applied for PR. Since January 21, 2025, only some spouses qualify. You must work in TEER 0 or 1, or in a select TEER 2 or 3 occupation. Your permit must be valid for at least 16 months after IRCC receives your spouse's application.
• You are waiting on your own PGWP application. Your spouse is not eligible until your PGWP is approved.
• Renewals for spouses already in Canada. Your spouse can extend if their permit is shorter than yours and they apply before it expires. IRCC can't issue past your permit's expiry or your spouse's passport expiry.

Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/work-canada/special-instructions/spouses-dependent-children/eligibility.html