BREAKING: Canada moves to enshrine early access to work permits for asylum seekers

Ottawa has moved to make permanent the ability for asylum claimants to obtain faster access to work permits.

The move comes in the form of draft changes to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, published in the Canada Gazette the afternoon of June 19, 2026.

Under the current Regulations, for an asylum seeker to qualify for a work permit, their claim must have been referred to the Refugee Protection Division (RPD).

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The proposed changes to the Regulations would allow for work permits to be issued to asylum claimants whose claim has been found eligible for referral, prior to the referral of their claim to the RPD.

This earlier access to work permits has been in place through a temporary public policy, Temporary public policy to exempt refugee claimants, in Canada, from certain requirements for open work permit issuance, which was first put in place in November of 2022, with the purpose of providing refugee claimants authorization to work in Canada so they could financially support themselves while awaiting their hearings. The policy remains in force today, but like all temporary public policies, it can be revoked at any time without notice.

Once changes are integrated into the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, they’ll become a permanent fixture of Canada’s asylum system moving forward.

In addition to the earlier work permit access, the proposed changes include a number of additional reforms to Canada's asylum system, including

• making permanent the exemption to the one-year asylum ban for unaccompanied minors;
• allowing an asylum seeker to initiate the asylum claim process without needing to have submitted the complete set of required documents;
• giving claimants up to 60 days after their referral to the RPD to submit supporting documents, along with the ability to receive a 30-day extension upon request;
• requiring the Minister to consider a claim within 365 days after having received all required documents;
• specifying circumstances in which the Minister is required and/or allowed to designate a representative for an asylum claimant;
• specifying the responsibilities of designated representatives; and
• allowing the Minister to reinstate withdrawn asylum claims when justified.

The proposed changes have been published in the Canada Gazette for a 30-day consultation period, set to run until July 20, 2026.

After the consultation period closes, the government may revise the proposed amendments.

When the government publishes the finalized version of the amendments in the Gazette, the amendments will come into force on the date specified.

Ottawa expects the set of proposed changes to have been finalized and implemented "later in 2026," according to the government's press release.

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