Temporary Public Policy

The temporary public policy that allows certain temporary residents in Canada with visitor status to apply for a work permit from within Canada has been extended until February 29, 2023. While all visitors in Canada can apply for an employer-specific work permit under this public policy, only those who held a work permit in the last 12 months may request interim authorization to work.

The public policy came into effect on August 24, 2020, and the eligibility criteria were expanded to allow all visitors who are in Canada with valid temporary resident status to apply inland for an employer-specific work permit, regardless of when they arrived in Canada. The public policy is being extended until February 28, 2023.

More information on the website of IRCC is here.

All visitors who are in Canada with valid temporary resident status can apply inland for an employer-specific work permit, regardless of when they arrived in Canada. And under this public policy, those who held a work permit in the last 12 months may request interim authorization to work.

The original public policy came into effect on August 24, 2020 and is being extended until February 28, 2022.

More information on the IRCC website.

Starting July 26, 2021, TR to PR pathway applicants will be eligible for an open work permit while their application is being processed.
To qualify for this one-time open work permit, you must show that at the time you submitted successfully an application under one of the new permanent residence pathway’s streams:

• held a valid work permit, or were authorized to work without a work permit,
• were employed in any occupation and
• met the language requirements of the stream under which you applied.

You must also show that at the time you submit your open work permit, you:

• are in Canada and
• hold a valid work permit that is set to expire within the next 4 months or
• have temporary resident status, maintained status or are eligible to restore your status.

Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, you can’t leave and re-enter Canada to present your letter of Introduction for examination (in other words, you can’t travel to a port of entry to flagpole or travel to another country and return). Therefore, IRCC has developed a process to conduct the examination and issuance of the work or study permit.  This pilot process is now in place until August 31, 2021. More information on the website of IRCC. 

As of June 1, 2021, until August 31, 2026, Hong Kong residents in Canada can apply for permanent residence if they fall under 1 of the 2 streams:

Stream A: Graduation with a degree, diploma (2 years or longer), or graduate or post-graduate credential (1 year or longer) from a post-secondary learning institution in Canada in the last 3 years or
Stream B: Graduation with a degree, diploma (2 years or longer), or graduate or post-graduate credential (1 year or longer) from a post-secondary learning institution in Canada or abroad in the last 5 years, plus 1 year of in-Canada work experience within the last 3 years
This public policy is part of a number of facilitative measures put in place to support Hong Kong residents who are seeking alternatives to remaining in or returning to Hong Kong.

More information on the website of IRCC.

IRCC finally published how they will assess the application against the policy conditions. Although most information can be found in the guide and the published policy, a few points remained open or were open for interpretation. We received a few questions about the current employment and the 1-year full-time work experience.

Current employment
Principal applicants must be currently working in order to be eligible for this public policy.

Current employment

• must be in Canada
• can be in any occupation listed in the National Occupational Classification (NOC)
• must be authorized
• must be paid in wages or commission
• does not include self-employment, unless the applicant is working as a medical doctor in a fee-for-service arrangement with a health authority
  The lock-in date to determine “currently employed” is the date the application is received by IRCC.

There are no requirements that the current employment is full-time or permanent and applicants do not need to remain employed throughout the processing of the application.

All principal applicants must reside in Canada with valid temporary resident status (or be eligible to restore their status) and be physically present in Canada when the application for permanent residence is received and when the application is approved. Foreign nationals who do not currently have temporary resident status in Canada, such as refugee claimants, are not eligible for this public policy.

1-year full-time work experience
The 1 year of work experience can be acquired through multiple periods of employment but must equal at least 1,560 hours in the 3 years before the application for permanent residence is received. Work experience must be acquired over a period of at least 1 year; work in excess of 30 hours per week over a shorter period cannot compensate for any shorter overall period of experience.

The program is open and the link to the program is here.

I recommend reading the instruction guide very carefully and make sure you use the most current forms. IRCC tweets turned out to be unreliable in some cases. Unfortunately for those who relied on the tweets and not on the guide and are now having difficulty with the payments.
Also, the guide turned out not to be a reliable source and after the opening of the program, changes were made in the guide as well. After sending everybody to the photographer getting new passport photos, IRCC added that digital photos are also okay.

Wednesday, May 5th at noon (EST) the guide will be released and the program will open on Thursday, May 6th at 12 PM EST.

The first step is a wizard tool checking your eligibility for the program. The next step is making an account for the dedicated online portal. After verification of your email, you can now start the application by uploading the mandatory documents and forms. An Immigration Consultant or Lawyer can assist you with making the account and uploading the documents, but you must review and submit the application yourself.

The guide for the new pathway is expected before the 6th of May when the program opens. Meanwhile, there is confusion about when and what fees to pay when applying under this program. Recently Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada confirmed that the fee payment is part of the application, and you must not pay upfront.

Under this policy, you must maintain legal status, but you can not apply for a bridging open work permit, meaning that when your work permit expires you probably can only extend your stay as a visitor.

International graduates who did not yet receive a diploma or degree will probably be able to apply with the completion letter instead.