Canada Ends Option for Visitors to Apply for Work Permits from Within the Country

As of August 28, temporary residents in Canada holding a visitor visa are no longer allowed to apply for a work permit from within the country.

This policy, originally introduced in August 2020, aimed to assist visitors who were stranded in Canada due to COVID-19-related border closures. Under the policy, visitors could apply for a work permit without leaving Canada. Additionally, those who had held a work permit within the previous 12 months and had since changed their immigration status to “visitor” were permitted to work legally while awaiting a decision on their new work permit application.

Although the policy was initially scheduled to expire on February 28, 2025, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced an early termination as part of efforts to manage the number of temporary residents in Canada and to maintain the integrity of the immigration system.

Applications submitted before August 28 under this policy will continue to be processed.

IRCC explained that the premature end to the policy was partly due to concerns that “bad actors” were exploiting it to mislead foreign nationals into unauthorized work in Canada. This aligns with the department’s broader initiatives to combat immigration fraud and manage temporary resident levels.

For instance, last year, 700 Indian international students were found in Canada with fraudulent letters of acceptance from Designated Learning Institutions (DLIs), many of them unaware that their letters were not authentic. In response, IRCC now requires DLIs to verify all acceptance letters within 10 days of receiving an international student application. Additionally, the number of international students accepted into Canada will be capped for the next two years.

Significant Reductions in Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Levels

The termination of the temporary policy allowing certain visitors to apply for work permits comes amidst a series of major changes aimed at reducing Canada’s temporary foreign worker levels.

On August 26th, the Department announced that by September 26th, 2024, it will pause the processing of some Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) applications under the Low-Wage stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). This pause will affect applicants in Census Metropolitan Areas with an unemployment rate of 6% or higher.

IRCC also introduced new restrictions, limiting the number of foreign workers Canadian employers can hire under the TFWP to 10% of their total workforce, and reducing the maximum employment term for workers in the Low-Wage stream from two years to one.

These recent changes reflect a broader rollback of pandemic-era immigration policies that the Canadian government had implemented to address labor shortages. For instance, during the pandemic, IRCC, in collaboration with Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), temporarily allowed Canadian employers to hire up to 30% of their workforce through the Low-Wage stream of the TFWP and extended the validity period of an LMIA to 12 months.

IRCC and ESDC began reversing these pandemic-related measures last May, following a joint press conference held by Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault and Immigration Minister Marc Miller.

At the same press conference, Minister Miller announced the historic inclusion of temporary resident levels in the annual Immigration Levels Plan—marking the first time such levels have been part of the plan.

Immigration has become a central issue in Canada, with much of this year focusing on managing and reducing the number of temporary residents in the country. As of this week, Minister Miller has also indicated his intention to consider adjustments to permanent residence levels in the coming years.