Open work permits

The applicant must live in Canada (and intend to live outside Quebec, except Quebec-stream applicants) when applying; have valid temporary resident status and a valid work permit, or an expired permit with maintained status, or be eligible to restore status and get a work permit. PR stage required: Express Entry (FSW, CEC, FST) principal applicant whose complete application passed the completeness check (acknowledgement of receipt; a profile alone does not count); PNP via Express Entry: same, plus no employment restrictions as a condition of the nomination; PNP outside Express Entry: principal applicant with no employment restrictions as a condition of the nomination and a complete application that passed the eligibility assessment (IRCC does not start processing the BOWP until it confirms basic PNP eligibility for PR). PNP applicants (through Express Entry or not) must be in Canada with valid temporary resident status when IRCC decides the BOWP, or the application may be refused. Quebec skilled worker: CSQ valid when applied, intends to live in Quebec, passed completeness check; Quebec investors: live in Quebec, CSQ, completeness check; Agri-Food Pilot and caregiver classes: approved in principle (Home Child Care Provider and Home Support Worker pilots opened 2019 to 2024 also need 6 months of qualifying work experience; the caring for children and high medical needs classes need a complete PR application submitted before those programs closed on June 18, 2019). Every stream except the Home Child Care Provider and Home Support Worker pilots (opened 2019 to 2024) also lists being the principal applicant on the permanent residence application. Home Care Worker Immigration pilots (opened 2025) applicants are not eligible.

An open work permit needs no job offer, LMIA, offer of employment or compliance fee, but is available only in specific situations: PGWP applicants; IEC Working Holiday; destitute students; family members of PR applicants or work permit holders; spouses/partners of certain international students; sponsored family members; refugees, asylum claimants and protected persons; victims of workplace abuse; people in crisis; Indigenous Peoples; certain PR applicants (e.g. bridging); TRP holders; Quebec investors. Most people applying from outside Canada cannot get an open work permit. Holders cannot work for employers on the ineligible non-compliant list or employers regularly offering striptease, erotic dance, escort services or erotic massages; a permit may restrict occupation (e.g. pending medical) or location.

As of January 21, 2025, only select spouses or common-law partners qualify under this measure. The principal must: hold a valid work permit (or POE letter of introduction / authorization to work without a permit, with exceptions); live, or plan to live, in Canada while working; be employed or going to be employed in a TEER 0 or 1 occupation or a select TEER 2 or 3 occupation listed by IRCC; and hold a permit valid for at least 16 months after IRCC receives the spouse's application (exception for Quebec-recruited foreign-trained medical professionals). The spouse must meet general work permit requirements, be in a genuine relationship, and if in Canada have valid status, maintained status or be eligible for restoration. Principal not eligible if: refugee claim referred to IRB, unenforceable removal order, international student/study permit holder, PGWP applicant without a positive decision, or holder of a spousal OWP. Dependent children (and their dependent children) are no longer eligible under this measure. Family members already in Canada with a shorter permit may extend if they apply before their permit expires (not beyond the principal's permit). Spouses of workers under certain free trade agreements may qualify under the FTA instead.

(a) Principal applied for PR through a listed economic program (e.g. CEC, FSW, FST, PNP, AIP, Agri-Food Pilot, RCIP, FCIP, Rural and Northern Pilot, Start-up business class, Quebec skilled worker/investor CSQ holders, caregiver classes): principal's work permit must be valid in Canada for at least 6 months after the family member's application is received, the principal lives or works in Canada, and the permit was issued because of the PR application (for RCIP/FCIP only dependent children qualify under this measure; spouses use the pilot's own permit). (b) Principal in a TEER 4 or 5 occupation who has not yet applied for PR but is on a pathway (PNP; provincial business candidates/Quebec self-employed with CSQ; CSQ holders; Quebec investors; Start-up Visa; AIP; Agri-Food Pilot; Yukon Community Pilot): valid permit (or approved/authorized), valid at least 6 months after the family member's application, working in TEER 4/5 at the time of application, living in Canada. Spouses, dependent children and grandchildren may qualify under these measures. Excluded principals include those with an IRB-referred refugee claim, unenforceable removal order, certain students, or a spousal OWP.

As of March 23, 2026: spouse may apply if the principal holds a valid work permit or letter of introduction under a British Columbia Significant Investment Project (SIP) agreement, is employed or has a job offer at any TEER level, and lives or will live in Canada while employed; no 16-month validity requirement (job title SIPSPOUSEBC; separate applications need the principal's application copy and the provincial letter of support naming the SIP). As of May 25, 2026: for spouses of workers recruited by Quebec in NOC 31301, 32103 or 32120, the principal's permit does not need to be valid for 16 months (job title CONJOINTSANTEQC; selection letter from a named Quebec program required if applying separately). As of June 5, 2026: spouses/common-law partners of temporary workers who applied under Quebec's PSTQ may be eligible if they meet requirements on a separate IRCC page.

Starting January 21, 2025, a spouse or common-law partner may be eligible if the student has a valid study permit and is studying in a master's degree program of 16 months or longer, a doctoral degree program, an eligible (provincial pilot) program, or one of these professional degree programs at a university: DDS/DMD; LLB/JD/BCL; MD; OD; Pharmacy (PharmD, BS, BSc, BPharm); DVM; BScN/BSN; BNSc; BN; BEd; BEng/BE/BASc. The work permit cannot be extended beyond the student's study permit expiry. An existing open work permit under this stream may be extended if the student has a valid study permit, is or will be physically in Canada while studying, is a full-time student in a PGWP-eligible program at a DLI and is not in the last term of the program; the extension cannot go beyond the study permit's expiry.