As many university and college programs come to an end, international students may be considering post-graduation options, which can include applying for a Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP). This article will provide crucial insights into the PGWP application process to help you understand the intricacies of the program and the associated rules and policies.
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A major benefit of the PGWP is that is enables international students to gain professional work experience in Canada. This work experience is important when PGWP holders go on to apply for Canadian immigration.
Many of Canada’s over 100 different immigration pathways reward candidates who have studied and/or worked in Canada. Usually, a PGWP holder will need one year of professional work experience in a National Occupational Classification (NOC) code of 0, A or B to then be eligible to apply for a Canadian permanent residence program.
In order to be considered a full-time student, you must have held full-time student status every academic session of the program or programs of study completed and included as part of your post-graduation work permit application.
Canada has waived this requirement during the COVID-19 pandemic for some international students. Exemptions may apply to those who have begun or will begin a program between spring 2020 and summer 2022, or those whose program was already in progress in March 2020.
Other eligibility criteria include:
Although you cannot renew your PGWP, you may be able to extend your PGWP if it was limited in duration by your passport expiration date. The validity period of your PGWP may not go beyond your passport’s validity date. If this is the case, you have to apply for a work permit extension upon the renewal of your passport in order to receive the full validity of your PGWP.
If you decide to return to school after applying for the PGWP, you will not be able to receive a new PGWP for additional programs of study. Further, any period of full-time study while working will not count toward Canadian work experience for Canadian immigration purposes.
If your PGWP is expiring, you can look into a different type of work permit, like an open work permit or an employer-specific work permit. If you meet all the requirements of this work permit and apply for it before your PGWP expires, you may have maintained status to continue working in Canada.
Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), all foreign nationals that are authorized to enter Canada have temporary resident status. All temporary residents have an automatically imposed condition that they must leave Canada at the end of their authorized period of stay.
However, a temporary resident may apply to extend their period of authorized stay before it ends. If you have done this, your period of authorized stay as a temporary resident is extended by law until a decision is made. In addition, you are considered to have legal status as a temporary resident during the processing period.
If you are a graduate who applies for a PGWP before the expiry of your study permit, you are eligible to work full-time without a work permit while waiting for a decision on your application if all of the following apply:
You can remain eligible to work full-time without a work permit while waiting for a decision on your application even after leaving and re-entering Canada, but you must stop working immediately if you are notified by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) that your work permit has been refused.
It is important to keep in mind that a study permit will become invalid 90 days after the end of a study program. Further, you must apply for a PGWP within 180 days of obtaining proof that you have met the requirements for completing your program of study.
The days will begin to run when your final marks are issued or the day formal written notification of program completion is received, whichever comes first.
If your study permit becomes invalid or expires before you apply for a PGWP, you are not eligible to work without a permit and must either:
If your study permit becomes invalid or expires before you apply for a PGWP, there are a few options. One option is to leave Canada and apply for a PGWP overseas.
Interestingly, you can also submit an application “outside” Canada while still remaining physically in Canada. If you want to remain in Canada, you must maintain your status as a visitor until you receive the actual work permit.
Upon submitting your PGWP application, you will receive an auto-generated letter from IRCC. The letter will grant a 120 day validity period to continue working. This can be ignored.
The 120 days is based on the theoretical work permit processing time of 120 days for in-Canada applications. Historically, IRCC met its service standards more than 90% of the time and most should receive a decision on their application before the 120 days expire. If the 120 days have passed and no decision has been rendered, you can request proof of authorization to work using the IRCC web form.
The validity date of the letter in no way overrides the authority that allows foreign nationals who meet the requirements to continue working until a final decision is made on their work permit application.
Spouses and common-law partners of PGWP holders may be eligible to apply for a work permit under the C41 exemption.
In order for the spouse or common law partner to be eligible under C41, the PGWP holder must:
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