Temporary residents in Canada who visited Canada on a Visitor Visa will not be allowed to apply for a work permit from within Canada. The policy was introduced in August 2020 to assist visitors to Canada who were unable to return home due to the closure of the route due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Under this policy, they can apply for a work permit without leaving Canada.
In addition, anyone who received a work permit within the previous 12 months but changed their immigration status to “Visitor” will be eligible to work lawfully in Canada while awaiting a decision on their new work permit application.
Initially, the policy was to expire on February 28, 2025. However, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship of Canada (IRCC) says it is now ending the policy "as part of our overall effort to re-balance the number of temporary residents in Canada."
The department says that under the policy, applications submitted before August 28 will continue to be processed.
The end of the temporary policy allowing some visitors to apply for a work permit comes amidst a week of big changes aimed at reducing Canada’s temporary foreign worker levels. On August 26th, the Department announced it would pause the processing of some Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) applications for some applicants under the Low-Wage stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) by September 26th, 2024. This will impact applicants in Census Metropolitan Areas with an unemployment rate of 6% or higher.
IRCC also announced restrictions on the number of foreign workers that employers in Canada can hire under the TWFP (10% of their total workforce), and that the maximum term of employment for workers in the Low-Wage term would be reduced to one year or two.
Immigration has become an important topic in Canada, with the continuous announcements related to managing and reducing levels of temporary residents within the country. Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship of Canada, has also announced its intention to consider changes in permanent resident levels to Canada in upcoming years.