Public policy on exemptions to work permit conditions when changing employment

A temporary public policy has been issued on the temporary worker’s exemption from certain requirements when they are changing employment. This public policy comes into effect on May 27, 2025, and remains in effect until it is revoked by the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.

Policy objective

1. to allow temporary workers already in Canada to begin working quickly in advance of a final decision on their work permit application, provided that they
   1. are changing jobs or employers, and
   2. have secured a job offer under the terms of either the Temporary Foreign Worker Program or the International Mobility Program

Accordingly, measures are set out to enable temporary workers in Canada who are authorized to work (either with a valid work permit or without needing one) to begin working in a new job while their application for a new employer-specific work permit is being processed.

On this page

• Target populations
• Eligibility requirements
• Application contents
  • Example of template provided in public instructions
• Processing
  • Step 1: Receipt of IRCC web form
  • Step 2: Assessment under the public policy
  • Step 3: Work permit application

Target populations

Individuals expected to benefit from these measures include foreign nationals who

1. have maintained status and the authority to work without a permit, meaning they are authorized to work while their work permit application is pending processing, but are bound by the conditions imposed on their expired work permit, such that they can’t move to a new occupation or employer while their application is pending [R186(u)]
2. continue to hold a valid work permit that limits them to working for a named employer, but need to transition to a different occupation or employer for reasons that may include having been laid off
3. are work permit exempt [R186(b) to (x)], but require a work permit to work in a new occupation or for a new employer
   1. Business visitors [R186(a)] and foreign nationals who are work permit exempt under the Global Skills Strategy are not eligible for this public policy.

Eligibility

The foreign national

1. is in Canada with valid temporary resident status (including maintained status);
2. held a valid work permit or was authorized to work without a work permit under paragraphs 186(b) to (x) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) when their application for a new work permit or work permit renewal in Canada was submitted;
3. has submitted a new work permit application or a work permit renewal application in Canada for an employer-specific work permit, for which a decision has not yet been made;
4. intends to work for a new employer and/or occupation as specified by the job offer included in their work permit application described in (iii);
5. has applied for the public policy exemption using the electronic means identified by the department for that purpose; and
6. has requested that the exemption be applicable until a decision is made on their work permit application.

Application contents

The foreign national must submit their application for an employer-specific work permit from inside Canada [IMM 5710]. This application may be online or on paper and may have been made prior to the implementation of the public policy.

Officers will see one of the following messages from the applicant in the IRCC web form. This will flag that the request is to be considered under this public policy.

Example of template provided in public instructions

Message for work permit holders changing jobs or employers

Message for work permit-exempt workers

Processing

Step 1: Receipt of IRCC web form

On receipt of the IRCC web form, the Client Support Centre (CSC) will separate these requests and move them to a specific folder for the Immigration Operations Branch (IOB) to access.

The CSC will use the following key words to pull the public policy–specific requests: PPCHANGEWORK2020.

CSC agents will not be reviewing or responding to the incoming web forms to ensure compliance with the public policy. They will simply move the web forms to the appropriate email folder for IOB to assess.

Step 2: Assessment under the public policy

Officers should review the public policy consideration request to determine if both of the following apply:

1. There is a request for assessment under the public policy.
2. The request has sufficient information to find the work permit application in the Global Case Management System (GCMS).

The following are the applicable procedures if

• the request is not complete
• the request is complete
• the request does not meet eligibility requirements

Request is not complete

The processing officer may send a rejection notice if the IRCC web form does not include the following:

• a request for assessment
• sufficient information to confirm the receipt of an employer-specific work permit application

The rejection notice should use the following template. It is recommended that this simply be a reply to the incoming IRCC web form request.

Request is complete

If the request is complete, the processing officer should review the documentation in the work permit application to determine if the application is complete.

Requester has not submitted a new employer-specific work permit application

If on review of the work permit application it is determined that the foreign national is not applying for a new employer-specific work permit, the request does not meet the eligibility requirements. The officer may choose not to process the application on a priority basis and may refuse the public policy request using the template for a Negative public policy decision.

The following are the applicable procedures in the case of a

• positive public policy decision
• negative public policy decision

Positive public policy decision

If the request meets the eligibility requirements, the officer will send the following response:

Negative public policy decision

If the request does not meet the eligibility requirements, the officer will send the following response to the IRCC web form email. The processing officer should delete any requirement that doesn’t apply to the specific request.

Step 3: Work permit application

The following are the applicable procedures if the

• work permit application is not complete
• work permit application is complete

Work permit application is not complete

If the work permit application is incomplete, the processing officer may request the additional documentation and give the applicant 30 days to provide the information.

They will also provide a public policy assessment decision (either positive or negative) as a reply to the IRCC web form email and add a case note on their decision.

Work permit application is complete

If the application is complete, the processing officer will finalize the request for the public policy and send the decision (positive or negative) to the applicant. The work permit application is returned to the processing queue.

If the decision on the work permit is to refuse the application, the processing officer should indicate in the refusal letter that the public policy assessment is also refused because a decision has been made on their application.

In addition to the refusal reasons for the work permit, officers should enter the following under the “Other” refusal reason: Your request for consideration under the public policy is also refused as you do not meet the eligibility requirements.