The step that matters most is the date: apply to extend your permit, or for a new one, before it expires. If you do, you "can legally stay in Canada until a decision is made on your application" (IRCC: if your work permit expires). This guide takes your options in the order you would act on them, each linked to the official page that decides it.

Who this is for

You are in Canada on a work permit that is ending, for example:

• an employer-specific permit, tied to one employer;
• an open work permit you hold because your spouse or partner works or studies in Canada;
• a working holiday or other permit through International Experience Canada (IEC), Canada's youth mobility program;
• a permit as an intra-company transferee, moved to Canada by the company you already work for.

IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) is the federal department that decides these applications. If you hold a post-graduation work permit (PGWP), the permit some graduates of Canadian schools get, read our PGWP guide instead, because that permit has its own rules.

Can you extend your permit?

Often you can, if you still qualify for the permit you hold. IRCC says "You should apply at least 30 calendar days before the expiry date of your current work permit" (IRCC: extend or change the conditions on your work permit). What an extension needs depends on the permit:

• An employer-specific permit. To extend it, "Your employer may need to get a new Labour Market Impact Assessment or submit a new offer of employment" (IRCC: bridging open work permit). A Labour Market Impact Assessment, or LMIA, checks how hiring you would affect Canada's job market, and our LMIA guide explains it. Ask your employer early: before you apply, they must work out whether your job needs an LMIA and, if it does, get one (IRCC: employer-specific work permits).
• An open permit through your partner. IRCC "can't issue a work permit beyond the expiry of" your partner's permit, so yours can last only as long as theirs. If your partner's permit is extended, you can apply to extend yours, before your own expires (IRCC: open work permits for family members of foreign workers). Our guide to bringing your partner and children to Canada covers who qualifies.
• An IEC permit. "You can only make changes to your International Experience Canada (IEC) work permit in very specific situations." The same page says you can submit a new IEC profile if your country "allows more than one participation", or apply for a different work permit at least 30 days before your IEC permit expires (IRCC: IEC, make changes to your work permit). How many times you can take part depends on your country (IRCC: IEC eligibility by country), and our IEC guide explains the program.

Keeping your status while you wait

Applying before your permit expires gives you what is called maintained status. You can stay, and you "must keep working under the same conditions of your current work permit", which for an employer-specific permit means "the same employer, job, work location" (IRCC: if your work permit expires).

Think before you travel. If you leave Canada while the application is still being processed, you can come back as a visitor, but you "can't work until your work permit renewal has been approved" (IRCC: traveling outside Canada and re-entering). Our guide to maintained status covers the rest.

Can you move to a new employer?

With an employer-specific permit, a new employer means a new permit: you "apply for a new work permit, if you're eligible" (IRCC: changing jobs or employers). The new employer usually has a step to take first, because "Most employers need an LMIA before they can hire a temporary foreign worker". Where a job is exempt, the employer puts an exemption code in its offer of employment instead (IRCC: who needs an LMIA).

Normally "You can't start working at a different job or for a new employer until you get your work permit with the new conditions" (IRCC: who can extend or change their work permit). If you applied from inside Canada, you can "request authorization to work while we process your application", and IRCC's email tells you whether you may start (IRCC: changing jobs or employers).

With an open work permit there is no such step: "Open work permit holders can change employers at any time while their work permit is valid" (same page).

Can you apply for permanent residence?

A work permit is temporary. Permanent residence (PR) means you "can live, work or study anywhere in Canada" (IRCC: understand permanent resident status). Two routes are built for people who already work here.

The Canadian Experience Class (CEC) is one of the programs in Express Entry, "an online system that we use to manage immigration applications from skilled workers" (IRCC: Express Entry). Its conditions include (IRCC: Canadian Experience Class):

• "at least 1 year of work or 1,560 hours total (30 hours per week) in the 3 years before you apply";
• in jobs at TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3. TEER is how Canada sorts jobs by the training, education, experience and responsibilities they need, and our guide to NOC and TEER shows how to find yours;
• work done in Canada "while authorized to work under temporary resident status", not while self-employed or studying full-time;
• and "You must plan to live outside the province of Quebec".

So skilled work on any of the permits above can count, if it meets these conditions. Express Entry gives each profile a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score, and "We'll invite the candidates with the most points in rounds" (IRCC: Express Entry). Our free CRS calculator works out your score, and if it sits below recent cutoffs, our low CRS score guide covers routes that do not use it.

A provincial nomination. Through the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP), provinces and territories nominate people for permanent residence, and "Each province and territory has its own requirements" (IRCC: Provincial Nominee Program). Some of their streams, the routes within each program, are for people already working in that province. Our provincial streams comparison shows which need no job offer and which need time in the province.

Neither route extends your permit. While you wait for an invitation, IRCC's advice is plain: "Don't let your work permit expire while you wait for an invitation to apply", and "Maintain your status in Canada by extending your work permit" (IRCC: bridging open work permit).

Can you keep working after you apply for PR?

That is what the bridging open work permit (BOWP) is for. It "lets you keep working while you wait for the results of your permanent residence" application, and Express Entry and the Provincial Nominee Program are among the programs it covers (IRCC: bridging open work permit). For Express Entry, its conditions include that you live in Canada (and intend to live outside Quebec), hold a valid work permit or maintained status (or can still restore your status), are the main applicant, and have your acknowledgement of receipt letter, IRCC's letter confirming it has your permanent residence application. Our guide to the bridging open work permit goes through each condition.

What if your permit has already expired?

You may be able to restore your status, meaning get your legal status back, together with a new work permit. IRCC "must receive your application to restore your status no more than 90 days after your status expired", and "Normally, you aren't allowed to work until your status has been restored and your new work permit issued" (IRCC: restore your status and get a work permit).

After 90 days without applying, the same page says you need to leave Canada and apply from outside if you want to work here again. It names one exception: a worker applying for an open work permit with a support letter from a participating province or territory.

If no option fits in time

You can ask to stay longer as a visitor: "If you want to extend your stay in Canada as a visitor, you need to apply for a visitor record". A visitor cannot work unless allowed to work without a permit (IRCC: if you lose your job).

Or you can leave. If you have already applied for permanent residence, weigh one line before you go: "if you leave Canada after your work permit expires, you can't work until your new application is approved" (IRCC: bridging open work permit).

Whether a permit or permanent residence is granted is for IRCC and the provinces to decide, and nobody can promise an outcome.

Next step

Answer the free questionnaire, and the report checks the routes it covers against your answers.