Ukraine – CUAET: Overseas, ports of entry and in-Canada applications for an open work permit

The Prime Minister announced on February 23, 2022, that the Government of Canada has taken a strong stance against Russia’s attack on Ukraine and is committed to helping Ukrainian nationals and their family members overseas and in Canada.

As per the Minister’s announcement on March 22, 2023, the Government of Canada had extended the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) via public policy. This means that

• Ukrainians and their family members had until July 15, 2023, to apply overseas for a CUAET visa free of charge
• anyone holding a CUAET visa will have until March 31, 2024, to travel to Canada under the special measures
• CUAET holders who are already in Canada will have until March 31, 2024, to extend or adjust their temporary status through these measures, free of charge

These program delivery instructions inform IRCC and Canada Border Services Agency staff on how to process overseas and in-Canada applications for a work permit under the CUAET for Ukrainian nationals and their immediate family members.

On this page

• Policy objectives
• Eligibility requirements for Ukrainian nationals
• Eligibility requirements for family members
• Issuing an overseas work permit
• Issuing an in-Canada open work permit (OWP)
• Issuing a port of entry (POE) work permit
• Non-compliance

Policy objectives

This public policy

• permitted Ukrainian nationals and their immediate family members to apply for a temporary resident visa (TRV) or OWP from overseas
• enables eligible Ukrainians, and their immediate family members with valid temporary resident status in Canada to apply for a fee-exempt OWP from within Canada
• exempts eligible foreign nationals from the requirement that they be denied a work permit if they have not complied with certain temporary residence conditions

Eligibility requirements for Ukrainian nationals

To be eligible for an OWP, foreign nationals must meet the following requirements:

• They must be a national of Ukraine and be 14 years of age or older.

• If outside of Canada, they must have submitted an application for a temporary resident visa under the CUAET on or before July 15, 2023.

  or

  If they are in Canada, they must have valid temporary resident status [which includes maintained status under subsection 183(5) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR)] or be eligible to restore their temporary resident status under the IRPR.

• They must have submitted an OWP application under section R200 or subsection R201(1).
• They must have submitted their work permit application using electronic means (online) unless exempted by a regulation.

Ukrainian nationals and their family members who may already have authorization to work in Canada are eligible to apply for a new OWP through this measure.

Eligibility requirements for family members

To be eligible for an OWP, the foreign national must

• be a family member of a national of Ukraine who has applied under the CUAET measures or who holds valid temporary resident status in Canada. Family member is defined as
  • a spouse or common-law partner
  • a dependent child of the principal applicant or principal applicant’s spouse or common-law partner and who is 14 years of age or older
  • a dependent child of the dependent child and who is 14 years of age or older
• be in Canada with valid temporary resident status [which includes maintained status under R183(5)] or be eligible to restore their temporary resident status under the IRPR
• have submitted their work permit application using electronic means (online) unless exempted by a regulation.

Issuing an overseas work permit

Under the CUAET measures, Ukrainian nationals and their family members who are 14 years of age or older and outside Canada are eligible to apply for a fee-exempt OWP, valid for up to 3 years (or to passport validity, whichever comes first).

To facilitate the application process, a yes or no question has been added to the TR eApp to ask clients whether they would like to apply for an OWP.

If a client selects “Yes,” the following steps will need to be taken:

If the TRV application is approved

• The “counterfoil required” box must be unchecked on the OWP so only one counterfoil is issued.
• The OWP must be finalized.

If the TRV application is refused

• The refusal letter must be sent from the TRV application.
• The OWP should be left open in the event that the client reapplies.
• If the client is not issued a TRV or TRP within the following 60 days, the OWP application must be reviewed and finalized.

If a TRP is issued

• The original OWP must be finalized.
• The application will be automatically created in the GCMS as an OWP application, with the “counterfoil required” box checked.

Ukrainian nationals and their family members who hold a valid non-CUAET visa or eTA can also access CUAET benefits upon arrival at the POE or from within Canada, including a 3-year stay, a 3-year OWP and other CUAET measures.

Issuing an in-Canada open work permit (OWP)

Under these measures, all in-Canada work permit applications must be submitted electronically using the IRCC secure account with the exception of those of TRP holders, who must submit their WP and TRP applications together on paper to the Case Processing Centre–Edmonton.

For the purpose of this public policy, officers are advised to process OWPs as per normal guidance referred to in Open work permit – General processing and issuance – International Mobility Program with a few exceptions and procedural differences, as described below.

Immigration medical examinations (IMEs)

Ukrainian nationals and their family members who are already in Canada as temporary residents are able to apply separately for the fee-exempt, 3-year OWP. An immigration medical exam (IME) may be required as per standard temporary resident IME requirements.

Find out who requires an immigration medical exam.

Officers should follow the instructions found here: Medical conditions to be imposed for occupation-restricted work permits.

Biometrics

Under the extended CUAET measures, Ukrainian nationals who qualified for a biometric exemption as part of their overseas application, and who submit an in-Canada application for an OWP, will be required to enrol their biometrics but will continue to be fee exempt.

Should a client submit an application as a result of an administrative error (e.g., missing CUAET remark on status document) that previously exempted the client from providing biometrics, an officer may use their discretionary authority (R12.8) to exempt biometrics on the new application.

Issuing a POE work permit

To allow CUAET OWP holders to access in-Canada supports under the CUAET, officers must include special program code (SPC) UAC3 and the following visible remark on the OWP: “CUAET/AVUCU”.

If the client has an approved application for an OWP, officers are encouraged to

• issue the OWP with a 3-year validity (or until passport validity, whichever comes first)
  • If they do not have valid IME results and the client has resided in a designated country and territory list for at least 6 months in the last year, officers must
    • impose the following visible remark on the OWP: “CUAET/AVUCU”
    • impose a condition (condition 56) on their work permit stating “Must report for a medical diagnostic test to identify conditions of public health concern within 90 days”
  • If the client does not have valid IME results and has not resided in a designated country and territory list for at least 6 months in the last year
    • impose the following visible remark on the OWP: “CUAET/AVUCU”
  • Clients with valid IME results do not require a condition on their OWP.

If the client does not yet have an approved OWP but requests one at POE (e.g., eTA-required family members, those who didn’t opt for the OWP when they applied for a TRV, or those who held a valid visa before CUAET implementation), officers are encouraged to

• create the OWP application based on the information provided on the client’s travel document application
  • To allow CUAET OWP holders to access in-Canada supports under the CUAET, officers must include SPC UAC3 and the following visible remark on the OWP: “CUAET/AVUCU”.
• issue the OWP with a 3-year validity (or until passport validity)
  • If the client does not have valid IME results and has resided in a designated country and territory list for at least 6 months in the last year, officers must
    • impose the following visible remark on the OWP: “CUAET/AVUCU”
    • impose a condition on the client’s work permit stating “Must report for a medical diagnostic test to identify conditions of public health concern within 90 days”
  • If they do not have valid IME results and the client has not resided in a designated country and territory list for at least 6 months in the last year
    • impose the following visible remark on the OWP: “CUAET/AVUCU”

Clients with a valid IME do not require a condition or a visible remark on their OWP.

Non-compliance

There are two cohorts of non-compliant applications:

1. non-compliance related to document requests
2. non-compliance related to biometrics

A phased approach to managing these non-compliant cases to finalization will be undertaken.

1. The department may issue procedural fairness letters to non-compliant applicants from whom we have not received a response to allow 30 days to submit requested documentation or information.
2. Applicants may be granted an extension if they have requested one to comply.
3. The department will refuse the applications for which the requested document or information was not provided within the allotted time.