A Canada open work permit lets you work for any employee in Canada as long as they are eligible to hire international workers. There are two kinds of work permits in Canada,
- Employer-Specific Work Permit, and
- Open Work Permit
As the name suggests, the employer-specific work permit only allows a worker to work for one employer. Imagine if you received a job offer from a Canadian employer and they are asking you to work for them and in turn they will support your work permit application.
However, you will only be able to work for that one certain employer and once your permit expires, you will have to return to your home country.
On the other hand, if you applied for an open work permit, you may work for any employer in Canada. Another advantage of working in Canada on an open work permit is that you may even bring your family with you.
Open Work Permit vs Employer-Specific Work Permit
Find the difference between the two kinds of work permits below:
| Open Work Permit | Employer-Specific Work Permit |
|---|---|
| Work for any employer | Only work for the employer that offered you a job |
| No need of LMIA | Needs LMIA (unless the job is LMIA-exempt) |
| Family may be allowed | Can’t bring family |
| Letter of support from the province or territory | Support letter not required |
Canada Spouse Open Work Permit
A Canadian Spouse Open Work Permit is issued to the spouse or common-law partner or dependent child of the person who has sponsored them for Canada PR. The spouse/partner/child can only apply for a spouse open work permit if their permanent residence application is being processed by IRCC.
Open Work Permit Requirements
IRCC has brought along some new changes to the eligibility requirements of an open work permit under a temporary measure. The following requirements are the new ones.
- To apply for an open work permit, you must be in one of the following situations:
- You hold a valid work permit
- You held a valid work permit on 7 May, 2024 but if your work permit has expired after that, and you have applied to get your status restored, you may apply for an open work permit
- On 7th May, you were on maintained status, and till now haven’t received a negative decision on your application
- You are in the country on temporary residence status both at the time of submitting an application and when a decision was made on your application OR you were in the country when you applied to restore your status.
- You have a letter of employment
- If you are living in Alberta, Manitoba or Yukon, you must be eligible for its provincial or territorial nominee program and have, as proof, submitted an Expression of Interest (EOI). Hence, in return, the province or territory must issue you a support letter which you absolutely need to apply for an open work permit.
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How to Apply For Open Work Permit From India?
Follow these steps to apply for an open work permit from India easily:
STEP 1 – Create or Sign into IRCC account
STEP 2 – Choose your application type “Work Permit”
STEP 3 – Fill out the application form and upload all the necessary documents.
Upon filing out your work permit application, you will encounter a section of “Details of intended work in Canada”. In this, you will be asked:
- “What type of work permit are you applying for?” To answer this, select “Open Work Permit”, and
- “Job title and Brief description of duties” To answer this, you will need to enter the provincial code both the boxes, i.e., in the Job Title field and the brief description of duties field.
The correct provincial as well as territorial codes are:
- For Alberta: ABEOI2024
- For Manitoba: MBEOI2024
- For Yukon: YKEOI2024
STEP 4 – Pay the application fee
Open Work Permit Processing Time & Fee
A Canadian open work permit costs CAN$100 and takes about 154 days to get processed. IRCC has calculated this processing time based on the time it took to process most of the past work permit applications.
From the day IRCC receives a completed open work permit, it will start processing it and thus, it may take 154 days to decide whether or not to approve it.
How Can I Apply for Canada Open Work Permit?
There are two ways by which one can apply for an open work permit:
- Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP)
- International Mobility Program (IMP)
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