A second chance at working in Canada now for foreign ex-students

On January 8, 2021, the Canadian government introduced a new policy whereby international students with expired or soon to expire PGWP can apply for a new open work permit.

The new policy was passed to allow PGWP holders enough time to gain as much experience as required to apply for a Canada PR visa. This will be extremely considerate and helpful to those who have been affected by COVID-19 and have lost their jobs due to the pandemic or have had their working hours cut short.

Giving former international students another chance will bear the advantage that they will have a better ability to integrate into the Canadian labor market with their educations and experience of work in Canada among the native people.

The validity of the new work permits will be 18 months. With the permit, former international can stay in Canada and search for work. This work permit is different from closed work permits that allow its holder to work only for one Canadian employer. With an open work permit, the permit holder can work for any employer in Canada.

The eligibility criteria for this new Canada work permit visa are as follows:

• The candidate must have a PGWP that expired on or after January 30, 2020, or the candidate’s PGWP must be up for expiry within 4 months or less from its date of issue
• The candidate must be present in Canada
• The candidate must have a temporary status in Canada that’s valid or the candidate must be applying to restore his/her status

IRCC expects 52,000 graduates with expired or soon expiring PGWPs to get the benefit of this new permit.

If you are looking to Study, Work, Visit, Invest or Migrate to Canada, talk to Y-Axis, the World’s No.1 Immigration & Visa Company.

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Note:

PGWP – Post Graduate Work Permit

IRCC – Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada