Public policy: Open work permits for applicants under the temporary resident to permanent resident pathway

This section contains policy, procedures and guidance used by IRCC staff. It is posted on the department’s website as a courtesy to stakeholders.

Temporary public policies aiming to transition foreign nationals already living and working in Canada to permanent residence were announced on April 14, 2021 and launched on May 6, 2021.

To support these permanent resident public policies, the Temporary public policy to exempt certain permanent residence applicants from work permit requirements was signed on July 4. 2021, to provide exemptions from certain requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) to facilitate the issuance of open work permits to eligible individuals in Canada. Eligible family members may also apply for an open work permit.

A new public policy on issuing open work permits was signed on April 21, 2022 to come into effect on June 6, 2022.

The new public policy will:

This replacement public policy will be applied retroactively to pending applications for a work permit made under the initial public policy, as well as all applications received after the date that this public policy takes effect. Refer to Extensions.

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Policy objectives

This public policy facilitates the issuance of open work permits to eligible foreign nationals in Canada who submitted an application for permanent residence under one of the streams created by the Temporary Resident to Permanent Resident Pathway public policy which came into effect on May 6, 2021. It also authorizes eligible family members to apply for an open work permit regardless of whether or not they are currently residing in Canada with the principal applicant.

Eligibility requirements for principal applicants

Foreign nationals must meet the following criteria:

Note: The permanent residence application must not have been withdrawn or refused at the time of work permit application submission.

Note: Applicants whose work permit is valid for longer than 4 months should follow the Public policy on exemptions to work permit conditions when changing employment instructions to submit their application, and the officer should follow these instructions for processing.

Documentary evidence

Proof of receipt of IRCC confirmation email

Principal applicants must provide a copy of the confirmation email stating that IRCC has received their application.

This is a system-generated email that is sent to online applicants. The email reads as follows:

This is an automated message. Do not reply to this email.

Hello,

This email confirms that you have successfully submitted your permanent residence application.

We’ll review your application to make sure you

  • provided all of the information we asked for
  • uploaded all required documents correctly
  • paid the fees

We’ll send you a confirmation email (an acknowledgement of receipt or AOR) once an agent starts reviewing your application.

  • It can take some time before you receive the AOR.
  • Check your email regularly to see if you’ve received it.

Thank you,

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada


Proof of language test results

The applicant must have language test results from a designated provider listed below that show the applicant meets the minimum language level in each of the 4 language skill areas for the stream to which they are applying, for either

English providers

French providers

The date of the test results should be within 2 years but prior to permanent residence application submission.

The minimum language requirements for each stream are as follows:

Stream Minimum language requirement
Workers in Canada: Health care and Workers in Canada: Essential non-health care CLB/NCLC 4 (in either English or French)
International graduates from a Canadian institution CLB/NCLC 5 (in either English or French)
French-speaking workers in Canada: Health care and French-speaking workers in Canada: Essential non-health care NCLC 4 (must be in French)
French-speaking international graduates from a Canadian institution NCLC 5 (must be in French)

See the language requirements  section for information on providing evidence of language proficiency.

The applicant must submit this proof using the “Client Information” slot in the electronic application.

Proof of authorized work

The foreign national must submit the following 2 pieces of evidence to show that, at the time the application for permanent residence was submitted, they were legally employed in Canada:

The officer should find this proof in the “Client Information” slot in the incoming correspondence.

Processing open work permit applications

Officers should use a work permit expiry date of December 31, 2024.

Open work permit applications will be processed by the Centralized Network (CN).

Note: Not all mandatory documents are requested in the online document checklist. Applicants are given instructions on the IRCC website on how to identify the permanent residence stream they applied under and where to upload the supporting documentation when they apply online.

Officers should note that applicants are given specific instructions on how to complete the Application to Change Conditions, Extend my Stay or Remain in Canada as a Worker [IMM 5710]. Applicants instructions can be found at Temporary public policies: Open work permits for applicants under the temporary resident to permanent resident pathway .

Applicants are instructed to input the following in the “Details of intended work in Canada” section:

Box 1: What type of work permit are you applying for?

Select “Open Work Permit”.

Box 4: “Job title” and “Brief description of duties”

Enter “TRPR pathway PP OWP” in the “Job title” box.

Enter the name of the permanent residence stream you applied under in the “Brief description of duties” box.

In general, these instructions also apply to family members who are eligible for this open work permit.

However, instead of putting the name of the permanent residence stream in the “Brief description of duties” box, they must enter the unique client identifier (UCI) of the principal applicant.

Important: Officers should be aware that

  • the “Job title” box on the IMM 5710 form maps to the “Intended occupation” field in GCMS
  • the “Brief description of duties” box maps to a case note in GCMS
  • the presence of “TRPR pathway” in the “Intended occupation” field should be the flag to the officer to process under this public policy

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

On the “Application” screen, officers should enter the following information in the specified fields:

Field Selection or input
Case type 20
Special Program Code See Special program codes
Province of destination Open
City of destination Open
Exemption code

R01 (A25.2 Public policy)

This code should be entered manually

NOC

99999

This code should be entered manually

Intended occupation TRPR pathway PP OWP
Employer Open
Duration December 31, 2024, or until the expiry of the travel document, whichever is earlier.
Fee exemption code Open work permit holder fee: P03
User remarks (mandatory) TRPR pathway application pending decision

Fees

All foreign nationals applying for an open work permit under this public policy are required to pay the work permit processing fees, but are exempt from the requirement to pay the open work permit holder fee of $100 as work permit applicants under a public policy are not referenced in subsection R303.2(1).

Important: If this fee is paid in error, it must be refunded as per the processing office’s normal refund procedures.

Applicants instructions can be found at: Temporary public policies: Open work permits for applicants under the temporary resident to permanent resident pathway.

Special program codes

The special program codes that are used for the permanent residence applications can manually be entered by intake officers so that processing officers can easily identify the stream the applicant chooses to apply for. The codes and streams are as follows:

English code English stream name French code French stream name
CWE Workers in Canada: Stream B (essential non-healthcare) TCE Travailleurs au Canada : Volet B (essentiel excluant soins de santé)
IGR International Graduates DET Diplômés étrangers
SAH Workers in Canada: Stream A (healthcare) EAS Travailleurs au Canada : Soins de santé
CWEF French-speaking Workers in-Canada: Stream B (essential, non-healthcare) TCEF Travailleurs d’expression française au Canada : Volet B (essentiel excluant soins de santé) :
IGRF French-speaking International Graduates DETF Diplômés étrangers d’expression française
SAHF French-speaking Workers in-Canada: Stream A (healthcare) EASF Travailleurs d’expression française au Canada : Volet A (soins de santé)

Eligibility requirements for spouses, common-law partners and dependent children

To be eligible for an open work permit under this public policy, family members must

If the principal applicant is not eligible for an open work permit under the temporary resident to permanent resident pathway public policy, the processing officer will also refuse the work permit applications. If the work permit application of the principal applicant is refused, family members who submitted an open work permit under this public policy would no longer be eligible for an open work permit under the public policy and their work permit application should be refused. and any other temporary residence applications for family members and send a refusal letter to the applicants.

Applicants overseas are instructed to submit their application online using the application form for applicants outside Canada. They are subject to all requirements for overseas applicants.

Applicants are required to check the migration office’s specific requirements to make sure all required documents are included in their online application.

Documentary evidence

With the application for a spouse’s or dependent child’s open work permit, the applicant should provide the following, in addition to the other supporting documents requested when submitting an online application:

What is a 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 either

If officers have any 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.

Processing of family groups

For applicant instructions for family members, see: Temporary public policies: Open work permits for applicants under the temporary resident to permanent resident pathway

Applications for whole family submitted together

The CPC-E is responsible for processing in-Canada applications (for principal applicants and in-Canada family members) whether the applications were submitted as a group or separately.

Family groups where the principal applicant is in Canada and family members are outside of Canada will be triaged automatically to the CPC-E.

The CPC-E will only process the principal applicant’s application. Applications for outside of Canada family members will be referred to the appropriate migration office for processing.

If the principal applicant is eligible for an open work permit under the TR to PR pathway public policy, CPC- E will:

If the work permit application of the principal applicant is refused, family members who submitted an open work permit under this public policy would no longer be eligible for an open work permit and their work permit application should be refused.

Applications for family submitted separately

Dependants who did not include their temporary residence application in a family group with the principal applicant’s application can only submit their application after the principal applicant receives the open work permit.

In such cases, dependants must upload a copy of the principal applicant’s work permit in the “Client Information” field or ‘Proof of family member status’ when they apply online through the IRCC secure account (MyCIC Account).

If migration offices receive an online application from dependants overseas and the CPC-E has already issued an open work permit to the principal applicant, the appropriate migration office can make a final decision on the temporary residence application.

If the dependants are eligible to apply for temporary residence after entry and they used the in-Canada form, the CPC-E or local office will process the application and make the final decision as per the regular procedure.

Open work permit issuance for family members

On the “Application screen”, officers should enter the following information in the specified fields:

Field Selection or input
Case type 20
Province of destination Open
City of destination Open
Exemption code

R01 (A25.2 Public policy)

This code should be entered manually

NOC

99999

This code should be entered manually

Intended occupation TRPR pathway PP OWP
Employer name Open
Duration December 31, 2024, or until the expiry of the travel document, whichever is earlier.
Fee exemption code Open work permit holder fee: P03
User remarks (mandatory) TRPR pathway application pending decision: family member

Extensions

If a permanent residence application is in processing but has not been finalized, foreign workers who received an open work permit under this public policy may apply to extend their work permit. If they still meet all requirements, they may be issued an open work permit that is valid until 31 December, 2024 or until the expiry of the travel document, whichever is earlier.

Applicants instructions can be found at: Temporary public policies: Open work permits for applicants under the temporary resident to permanent resident pathway.

Applicants are instructed to input the following in the “Details of intended work in Canada” section:

Box 1: What type of work permit are you applying for?

Select “Open Work Permit”.

Box 4: “Job title” and “Brief description of duties”

Enter “TRPR pathway PP OWP-EXT” in the “Job title” box.

Enter the name of the permanent residence stream you applied under in the “Brief description of duties” box.

In general, these instructions also apply to family members who are eligible to extend their open work permit under the public policy.

However, instead of putting the name of the permanent residence stream in the “Brief description of duties” box, they must enter the unique client identifier (UCI) of the principal applicant.

Documentary evidence

In addition to the other supporting documents requested when submitting an online application, the applicant should provide the following:

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