Ukraine immigration measures: Open work permits for Ukrainians and their family members

There may be restrictions on your open work permit because you didn’t have a medical exam before you came to Canada. These restrictions prevent you from working in

• jobs that bring you into close contact with people, such as
  • workers in health care settings
  • clinical laboratory workers
  • patient attendants in nursing and geriatric homes
  • medical students admitted to Canada to attend university
  • medical electives and physicians on short-term locums
  • workers in primary or secondary school settings or workers in child-care settings
  • domestics
  • workers who give in-home care to children, the elderly or people with disabilities
  • day nursery employees
  • other similar jobs
• jobs in agriculture, if you’ve visited or lived in Ukraine or one of these countries for more than 6 months during the past year

You must get a medical exam within 90 days of your arrival. What you need depends on your age.

You may need to pay a fee for this exam.

Once you get your medical exam results, you can ask to remove these restrictions. To do this, you must follow the instructions below to apply for an open work permit in Canada. Then, we can issue you a new work permit without job restrictions.

As a Ukrainian national or family member of a Ukrainian national, you don’t need to pay any fees to remove the job restrictions on your work permit.

Follow the steps below to

• apply for an open work permit (new or extension) in Canada
• remove job restrictions on your open work permit

Who can apply

To be eligible, 1 of the following must apply:

• you have valid status as a visitor or hold a valid study or work permit
• you applied to extend your status before it expired (maintained status)
• you’re eligible to restore your status

Step 1: Make sure you have what you need

To apply online, you need a scanner or camera to create electronic copies of your documents.

Step 2: Create your online account or sign in

You need an account to apply online. You can use your account to

• submit your application forms
• check your status

How to start your application

Once you sign in to your account, you need to

• go to the Start your application section on the account welcome page
• click Apply to come to Canada
• on the next page, scroll down to the I do not have a personal reference code section
• click on the Visitor visa, study and/or work permit button
• on the next page, select Work

Step 3: Get your document checklist

You must answer some questions to create a personalized document checklist.

Make sure you answer these questions correctly

• Answer “Work” when asked “What would you like to do in Canada?”
• Answer “Temporarily – more than 6 months” when asked “How long are you planning to stay in Canada?”
• Workers and students must select “Worker” when asked What is your current immigration status in Canada?
  • For students, this is a temporary measure while we update the application system.
• Answer “yes” when asked:
  Does one of the following apply to you?
  • I am subject of a removal order that is unenforceable
  • I applied for a study or work permit before entering Canada that was approved, but not issued at a port of entry
  • I am in primary or secondary school, or a visiting or exchange student, in Canada with visitor status
  • I am applying for an open work permit under an active public policy or pilot program announced by IRCC
  • I am a student who has completed a program of study that is a prerequisite to my enrolment at a designated learning institution with visitor status in Canada
  • I applied for permanent residence and was found eligible (first stage approval) under one of the following classes:
    • Spouse or Common-law Partner in Canada
    • Humanitarian and Compassionate cases
    • Protected Persons in Canada
    • Live-in Caregiver in Canada
• Answer “No, I am exempt from paying fees for the application” to the question There are fees associated with this application. Will you be paying your fees or are you fee exempt?
• If you’ve undergone a medical exam, answer “Yes” when asked Have you had a medical exam performed by an IRCC authorized panel physician (doctor) within the last 12 months?
  • We strongly recommend you do this if you’re asking us to remove the job restrictions on your work permit.
  • This ensures there’s a place to upload proof of a medical exam in your document checklist.

Read the instruction guide and fill out the application

Read the instruction guide before you fill out your application. The guide will explain how to complete each field on the form.

Once you get your document checklist, fill out the application forms.

Special instructions for this public policy

When you fill out the work permit application form:

• Select “Open Work Permit” as the type of work permit you’re applying for in the Details of Intended work in Canada section.
• Enter “UKRAINE 2022” as the Job title.
• Enter “Ukraine 2022 public policy—open work permit” in the Brief description of duties field.
• For Duration of expected employment, we need to know how long you’d like your permit to be valid.
  • Enter the date you’d like to start working as the Start date.
    • It may not be possible to finalize your application by the start date you ask for.
  • You can ask for an End date that’s up to 3 years from the start date.
    • If we don’t finalize your application by your requested start date, we’ll update the end date of your work permit in line with your new start date.
    • You can’t ask for an end date beyond the expiry date of your passport.

Step 4: Upload the correct documents

You need to include the following documents with your application:

Depending on your situation, you may also need to provide other documents

Create an account or sign in