Policy expires: Iranians can no longer apply for special work permits

Iranians in Canada can no longer apply for special work permits, following the expiry of a temporary public policy.

Update: On March 4, 2026, it was announced that Canada had put in place a new policy facilitating work permits for Iranians; the March 2026 policy is not an extension of the expired policy, and does not apply to many Iranians who had been eligible under the expired policy.

Under the expired policy, Updated temporary public policy for nationals of Iran in Canada as temporary residents, Iranians who had arrived in Canada on or before February 28, 2025 had been able to obtain open work permits.

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The policy had also provided eligible foreign nationals with priority processing on their work permit applications, along with the ability to apply for study permits from within Canada.

The now-expired policy was initially implemented on March 1, 2025. It was the successor to an earlier policy first set in place in February of 2023 in response to civil unrest in Iran following the killing of Mahsa Amini in September of 2022.

The latest iteration of the policy expired at midnight, Coordinated Universal Time, on March 1, 2026.

An earlier version of the policy contained provisions exempting applicants from certain application and processing fees; these fee exemptions had not been included in the most recent iteration of the policy.

Canada manages a significant portion of its immigration system with the use of temporary public policies, and often establishes such policies for humanitarian reasons in response to geopolitical events around the globe.

People displaced by conflicts in Ukraine, Haiti, Gaza , and Sudan have been among those welcomed under recent temporary public policies.

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