Spouses and common-law partners of study permit holders – [R205(c)(ii) – C42]– Canadian interest – International Mobility Program

In these instructions, “officer” refers to employees of both Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency.

The instructions on this page should be reviewed in conjunction with

• Open work permit – General processing and issuance
• Conditions and validity period on work permits

The Minister has designated the following categories of work for genuine spouses or common law partners of principal foreign nationals who hold study permits and are enrolled full time in studies, as necessary for public policy reasons related to the competitiveness of Canada’s academic institutions, or economy, under subparagraph 205(c)(ii) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR).

This labour market impact assessment (LMIA) exemption category is intended for spouses who are not, themselves, already study permit holders actively engaged in full time studies. The reasons for allowing spouses to enter Canada and work is to increase the competitiveness of Canada’s academic institutions or economy in post graduation work permit-eligible study programs and institutions.

In these instructions, “spousal” refers to either common-law partner or married spouse situations.

On this page:

• Eligibility
• Documentary evidence
• Principal foreign national
• Genuine relationship
• Work permit processing in the Global Case Management System (GCMS)

Eligibility

To be a dependent spouse or common-law partner, the applicant for an open work permit must be in a genuine relationship with a principal foreign national. To be eligible under administrative code C42, the principal foreign national must meet all of the following:

• hold a valid study permit or be provisionally approved for a study permit (if applying as a family group outside of Canada)
• be studying on a full-time basis or intending to enroll in full-time courses, at a designated learning institution
• be accepted by or enrolled in a post-graduation work permit-eligible study program or institution
• be physically residing or plan to physically reside in Canada while studying

Documentary evidence

With the application for a spousal open work permit, the dependent spouse or common law partner should be providing the following:

• evidence that they are the genuine spouse or common-law partner of a study permit holder (for example, marriage certificate or Statutory Declaration of Common-Law Union - IMM 5409)
• evidence that the principal foreign national is attending a designated learning institution
• evidence that the principal foreign national is actively engaged in full-time studies in a post-graduation work permit-eligible study program and institution, such as
  • a Canadian public post-secondary institution, such as a
    • college
    • trade or technical school
    • university
    • CEGEP in Quebec
  • a private post-secondary institution in Quebec that operates under the same rules and regulations as a public post-secondary institution in Quebec
  • a private or public secondary or post-secondary institution in Quebec offering qualifying programs of 900 hours or longer leading to a diploma of vocational studies (DVS) or an attestation of vocational specialization (AVS)
  • a Canadian private institution authorized by provincial statute to confer degrees (for example, a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, or doctorate), but only if the study permit holder is enrolled in a study program leading to a degree as authorized by the province, which may not include all study programs offered by the private institution

If the principal foreign national is enrolled in a private post-secondary program/institution other than those listed above, the spouse or common-law partner is not eligible for a spousal open work permit.

Officers should be satisfied that the principal foreign national continues to comply with the study permit conditions. Should officers have any concerns, they may wish to request additional information from the applicant to ensure eligibility requirements of the administrative code C42 are met, or they may wish to undertake an assessment to ensure the bona fides of the material documents provided in the spousal open work permit application.

Principal foreign nationals

The principal foreign national is the first foreign national of the couple who obtained a study or work permit or was deemed authorized to work under the provisions of section R186 other than under paragraphs R186(v or w).

In assessing eligibility for a spousal open work permit, the principal foreign national continues to remain the principal in the couple.

The principal foreign national cannot obtain a spousal open work permit under the C41, C42, C47 or C49 administrative codes based on the dependent spouse’s spousal open work permit and TEER category.

For example, if the principal foreign national is a study permit holder and the dependent spouse obtains an open work permit under LMIA exemption code C42 for spouses of study permit holders, the study permit holder cannot quit schooling and obtain a work permit in the C41 spousal category on the basis of their spouse’s C42 open work permit and employment.

Genuine relationship

As per section R4, a foreign national shall not be considered a spouse or a common-law partner of a person if the marriage or common-law partnership

• was entered into primarily for the purpose of acquiring any status or privilege under the Act or
• is not genuine

If officers have concerns as to the genuineness of the relationship, they may request further documentation or information to confirm that the relationship between the dependent spouse or common-law partner and the principal foreign national is genuine and is not a relationship of convenience.

Work permit processing in the Global Case Management System (GCMS)

Under the Application screen, officers should enter the following information in the specified fields: