Lost your job on a closed work permit? What to do next

Temporary foreign workers in Canada must abide by the conditions imposed on their work permit—it is illegal to work for another employer, in another location, or in another role not specified on your work permit.

If you lose or quit your job, you may be eligible to obtain a new employer-specific work permit from within Canada if your status has yet to expire.

You may also be able to obtain permission from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to begin working while your application is being processed.

Schedule a Free Work Permit Consultation with the Cohen Immigration Law Firm

You may also be able to work remotely for a foreign employer from within Canada until your work permit expires.

This article will cover the two options available to individuals who lost their job on a closed work permit, including specific conditions and considerations tied to each option.

Option one: Apply for a new employer-specific work permit

If you are in Canada on an employer-specific work permit and are terminated from your place of employment, you cannot continue working in Canada unless you apply for a new work permit.

Typically, a foreign national can only apply for a work permit from outside Canada or at a port of entry if they are eligible.

But if the current work permit you hold is still valid, you may be eligible to apply for a new work permit from within Canada—ideally at least 30 days before your status expires.

A work permit remains valid until its originally issued expiration date even if you are laid off or terminated from your place of employment, allowing you to remain in Canada until that date despite no longer working.

Before you apply for a new work permit, you must first find an employer willing to hire you and obtain a job offer from them.

When submitting an application for the new work permit, you will have to provide Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) with the documents and information listed below.

You must also continue to meet all work permit eligibility requirements outlined by IRCC, provide the required (and possibly additional) documentation, and pay the work permit fee ($155). You may also be required to resubmit biometrics.

The processing time for work permits applied for within Canada is 210 days at the time of the time of this writing.

After you receive your decision letter, you should receive your work permit in the mail to the Canadian address you provided within six weeks. If this address has changed before you received the decision letter, you must inform IRCC.

You can start working once you get a positive decision letter; you don’t have to wait until the work permit arrives.

You must apply for your work permit online unless you are eligible to apply on paper.

Working while you await approval

In some cases, you may be able to gain legal authorization to work for your new employer while your new work permit application is being processed—potentially allowing you to start working within a few weeks, rather than having to wait months.

An employer-specific work permit legally authorizes you to work in Canada only for the named employer, so it’s normally illegal to work for any employer other than the one listed on your existing work permit.

Under a temporary public policy in effect as of the time of writing, however, it’s possible for you to request authorization from IRCC to work for your new employer while your new employer-specific work permit application is being processed.

You can make this request through IRCC’s web form by taking the following steps.

1. Under the Other category at the bottom of the page, select “See details,” followed by “Continue to form.”
2. Select “I’m the principal applicant” and fill out all the applicable sections of the form with your personal details.
3. At the bottom of the form in the “Tell us about your request” section, copy and paste the necessary special textinputting your personal details into the square brackets.

If you are a worker that has been exempt from holding a work permityou are still required to request an authorization to work if you want to change jobs or employers. The text you input into the “Tell us about your request” section will be different.

In both cases, if you do not include code “PPCHANGEWORK2020” when copy and pasting the special text provided by IRCC, your request will not be prioritized.

After you’ve submitted the web form, IRCC will email you within 10 to 15 days to inform you whether your request has been approved. This time frame is only applicable to individuals that applied for their new work permit online.

If you applied on paper, IRCC notes that this email will take longer to come.

Schedule a Free Work Permit Consultation with the Cohen Immigration Law Firm

Option two: Work remotely for a foreign employer

You may be able to legally remain in Canada and work remotely for a foreign employer—as an independent contractor, freelancer, or employee—without requiring a Canadian work permit.

This is only a viable option if your current worker status is still valid and the foreign employer employing you has

• No physical presence in Canada;
• No business operations in Canada; and
• No financial ties in Canada.

You must not enter the Canadian labour market, service Canadian clients, or be paid from within Canada to qualify for this work-permit exempt form of employment.

Note that before your current work permit expires (meaning it is no longer valid), you are required to do one of the following.

• Leave Canada;
• Extend your stay; or
• Change your status.

If you would like to extend your stay or change your status (for example, from worker to visitor), you can apply for a Visitor Record (VR) to continue working remotely without a work permit.

This can be done online through your IRCC Secure Account or by paper, and will cost you $100.

You must apply for a VR before your current status expires. IRCC recommends you do so at least 30 days before expiration or ideally well before to account for the current 203-day processing time.

An approved visitor record will allow you to keep your legal status in Canada and will include a new expiry date that you must leave Canada by unless you request and receive another extension.

You can stay in Canada while your application for a VR is being processed, as long as you apply before your current status expires.

If your work permit has expired and you have not applied for another work permit or visitor record, you must either

• Leave Canada and conduct your remote work from an alternate location; or
• Leave Canada, apply for visitor visa (if you meet all basic eligibility requirements), and return to work remotely in Canada for the period of time you’ve been approved for.

Remember that if you are working remotely for a foreign company from within Canada, you are still a resident of Canada and may be required to file Canadian income taxes.

If you are in doubt about your residency for tax purposes, call the Canada Revenue Agency at 1-800-959-8281.

Consult with an experienced immigration representative

Additional considerations

If your current work permit expires before you have the chance to apply for a new one, you will not be able to do so from within Canada—you must typically apply from outside the country in this scenario.

Now, if you apply for a new work permit and your current work permit expires before you receive the new one, you will have maintained status.

Keep in mind that while having maintained status allows you to remain in Canada legally while your work permit application is being processed, you will face certain restrictions, such as

If your worker status in Canada expires and you wish to stay longer, you may be eligible to restore your status within 90 days if you lost it because of

• Having overstayed your authorized period (no longer than 90 days); or
• Having changed your employer, work location, or type of work (occupation or responsibility level) before securing a new work permit.

To regain worker status and secure a new work permit, you must still meet the original eligibility criteria for your stay and must not have violated any other imposed conditions.

Submit your application within 90 days of losing your worker status and be sure to provide a detailed explanation for having failed to meet your permit conditions.

Priority processing

Be aware that IRCC is currently providing priority processing of work permits for individuals who perform or support essential services, including those in

• Select agriculture and agri-food occupations; and
• Select healthcare occupations.

If you qualify for and want to receive priority processing, you will be required to do the following when filling out your new work permit application.

Step one: Locate the National Occupational Classification (NOC) number provided by your employer on either

• Your job offer letter; or
• The LMIA document.

Step two: Enter this number (and only the number) into the “Job title” box when filling out box four in the “Details of intended work in Canada” section.

Below are the eligible agriculture/agri-food occupations and healthcare occupations, as well as their associated NOC codes.

Those that are not in one of these occupations will not receive priority processing for their work permit applications.

Schedule a Free Work Permit Consultation with the Cohen Immigration Law Firm