Renew Your Work Permit

A work permit allows you to work in Canada legally. If you have a work permit that is about to expire or you want to change employer, you must extend or change the conditions on it.

As a Live-in caregiver, International Experience Canada worker or Temporary foreign worker in Canada, you can apply to extend your work permit at least 30 days before your current permit expires. However, you can't extend your work permit beyond the expiry date of your passport.

You must make sure your passport does not expire before the requested end date of your permit.

When you are able to apply to extend or change the conditions of your work permit before it expires, you can continue to work legally in Canada while IRCC processes your application. During that period of time you are under what is called “implied status.” If, however, your work permit expires before you apply to extend it or change conditions, you must stop working.

If you have lost your status for not having applied to extend your work permit or change conditions before it expired, you must apply to restore your status as a temporary resident in Canada or for a new work permit. A status restoration application must be submitted within 90 days of the expiry date on your current work permit. In addition to that, you must pay an extra fee to restore your status as a temporary resident in Canada.

As a worker holding a work permit in Canada, you can only apply to extend your permit or change the conditions of your work permit if:

your job is extended
there are changes to your current job, such as: a change in your pay and new responsibilities
you’re offered a different job
you want to work for a new employer

Further, you can't start working for a new employer until you get your new work permit if you applied to change the conditions of your work permit. However, you can keep working under the conditions on your original work permit.