Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) applicants will be eligible for an open work permit renewal of up to 18 months from Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). The PGWP is an open work permit that allows international graduates to practice in Canada for one year before applying for permanent resident status.
The announcement was made by Canada’s immigration minister, Sean Fraser. Minister Sean Fraser on 22 April which includes the following points:
- Starting this summer, those holding a PGWP that expires between January and December 2022 will be eligible for an extra open work permit of up to 18 months.
- For the whole processing of their application, candidates will no longer be needed to stay in Canada.
- Those who apply for an open work permit while waiting for their legal residency application to be approved will be granted work permits active until the end of 2024. This will guarantee that all petitions for permanent residency are processed before applicants need to apply to extend their temporary residence again.
- Close family members listed in a principal applicant’s permanent residence application who are outside of Canada will be qualified for their own open work visa to support family reunification.
Foreign students who have graduated from a Canadian-recognized educational organization and are seeking a Post-Graduation Work Permit are the most frequent CEC candidates.
According to the IRCC, around 95,000 PGWPs will expire in 2022, and up to 50,000 PGWP holders could avail of this new open work permit.
In general, your chance of getting PGWP is only one time. It means, in case you fail to apply for permanent residence while holding the PGWP, you potentially lose your work permit state until you can find another work permit that meets your requirements. As a consequence, CEC applicants have been terminating their work permits because they are unable to apply for a Bridging Open Work Permit (BOWP) while waiting for IRCC to conclude their permanent residence petitions due to a paucity of Express Entry Invitations to Apply (ITAs).
The BOWP “bridges” the space between the termination of a work permit, such as the PGWP, and the candidate’s eventual receipt of permanent residence, as the title indicates. The BOWP allows some legal residents to carry on working in Canada for any firm of their preference.
Throughout January and July 2021, IRCC issued an alternative to its PGWP regulation by granting just one 18-month open work permit. The goal was to offer PGWP holders additional time to gain the necessary internships to be qualified for permanent residence in Canada if the pandemic harmed their work possibilities in Canada. For example, layoffs early in the pandemic.