Visitors inside Canada can apply for Work Permit until 2025

Last Updated On 24 November 2023, 9:04 PM EST (Toronto Time)

Foreign nationals who are visiting Canada on a tourist or visitor visa can continue to be eligible to apply for work permits until February 28, 2025.

All the individuals reaching out to inquire about this topic: Yes, you can apply for a work permit from within Canada, but you need to fulfill the requirements to support your work permit application.

Anyone having a visitor visa and currently in Canada doesn’t mean they can just apply for a work permit by simply submitting any application to IRCC.

Such interested visitor visa holders need to satisfy all the work permit criteria, including a supporting Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) or a valid job offer (if offered, the job is LMIA-exempt) by the Canadian employer.

A temporary public policy initially announced in 2020 was extended on February 28, 2023, by the former immigration minister Sean Fraser.

As per the policy, foreign nationals who are visiting Canada and obtain a valid job offer will be able to apply for and receive a work visa without leaving the country.

Visitors applying under this public policy who have held a work permit within the last 12 months may also request interim work authorization to begin working for their new employer sooner.

IRCC Makes New Extension For Visitors to Work Permit Policy By 2 Years

The purpose of this policy

Keeping this interim policy in place gives Canadian firms another option, as many are facing major worker shortages in this era of economic development.

Prior to this temporary policy adjustment, anyone wishing to work here had to apply for their initial work visa from outside Canada.

If they were already inside the country with visitor status when they were authorized for a work permit, they would have to leave before their work permit could be issued.

Leaving Canada is no longer necessary with this policy in effect.

Initially, this policy was only for the visitors who came before August 24 2020 and have a job offer in addition to other requirements.

But then this policy was amended to allow all visitor visa holders entering Canada without considering their date of entry.

Eligibility Criteria To Apply

An applicant looking forward to benefiting from this temporary public policy must:

• have a valid visitor status in Canada on the day they apply
• have a job offer backed by a labour market impact assessment (LMIA) or an LMIA-exempt offer of employment
• submit an application for an employer-specific work permit before February 28, 2025, and
• satisfy all other standard admissibility requirements

Candidates with visitor status who have already held a work permit in the last 12 months under this temporary policy are also eligible if they meet the below-listed criteria:

• When you apply, you must be physically present in Canada.
• You must remain in the country while your application is being processed.
• You will not be eligible for this public policy if you depart while your application is being processed.
• While applying for a work permit, you must be a visitor with valid status.
• If your visitor status has expired, you must restore it before applying for a work permit.
• applied for an employer-specific work permit between August 24, 2020, and February 28, 2025
• had a valid work permit in the 12 months before to applying for a new work permit

Visitors inside Canada who have held a valid work permit in the last 12 months can follow particular guidelines to obtain interim work permit.

LMIA Approved Jobs In Canada-Here Is How To Find One

Eligibility Requirements For Interim Authorization To Work

Interim Work Authorization is only granted to visitor visa holders who have held a valid work permit in the previous 12 months under this temporary arrangement.

After submitting an application for a work permit under this policy, applicants must complete the IRCC Web form with the message that IRCC has specified below.

When you fill out the Your Inquiry section, you must copy the text below.

Priority Code VISIT2WORK2020: I am requesting consideration under the Temporary Public Policy to Exempt Certain Visitors in Canada from Immigration Requirements during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic and ask that the applicable exemptions be granted until a decision is made on my work permit application or it is withdrawn.
My previous work permit number [U#########] expired on [Date].
I have submitted my application for a work permit online. OR I have submitted my application on paper and the postal/courier tracking number is NUMBER.
I intend to work for [employer NAME] / [occupation] as specified in the aforementioned work permit application.
I understand that providing false, misleading or incorrect information is a violation of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and may result in enforcement measures against me.

Make sure you fill out the sections in square brackets, including the

• dates
• work permit number (begins with a “U”)
• name of your employer
• title of your job

After completing the webform, you must wait for an email from IRCC informing you that you can start working.

This will be your interim work authorization before getting the work permit and this process could take up to 30 days (6 weeks).

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