Temporary public policy to exempt certain permanent residence applicants from work permit requirements

Date Announced:

April 21, 2022

Active Period:

Until a decision on permanent residence application is received

Overview:

Family separation has been exacerbated by challenges brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in light of border closures and international travel restrictions. Workers who came to Canada before or during the pandemic and have since applied for permanent residence may have been separated from family members for a long period of time. Recognizing the hardships of family separation and given longer than anticipated processing times for permanent residence applications for this Pathway, it is important to support family reunification for workers in Canada while they wait for a decision on their permanent residence application. Additionally, providing work authorization to all the eligible family members would further help fill labour shortages.

As such, to facilitate the issuance or renewal of work permits that would provide the applicants and their eligible family members with work authorization until they receive a decision on their permanent residence application, I hereby establish, pursuant to my authority under section 25.2 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (the Act), that there are sufficient public policy considerations that justify the granting of exemptions from the requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (the Regulations) listed below to foreign nationals who meet the conditions (eligibility requirements) set out below.

Accordingly, this public policy will provide exemptions from certain requirements to facilitate the issuance of open work permits to eligible individuals in Canada who submitted an application for permanent residence under the temporary public policies facilitating transition to permanent residence announced on April 14, 2021 and which came in effect on May 6, 2021. Eligible family members in Canada or abroad may also be issued an open work permit.

Departments and Agencies:

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada

Type of Administrative Action:

  • Guidelines and rule changes
  • Immigration pathways and pilots

    • Immigration Category:

    Economic migrants | Family class (reunification)

    Keywords:

    open work permit; family reunification; TR2PR

    Source Document(s):

    https://immigrationpolicytracker.ca/wp-admin/post-new.php?post_type=record

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