“We need to use every tool in our toolbox to support employers who continue to face challenges in hiring the workers they need to grow. At the same time, we’re providing international graduates whose work permit is expiring or has expired with some additional time to stay in Canada to gain valuable work experience and potentially qualify to become a permanent resident.”

– The Honourable Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship

• PGWP holders who are eligible for the facilitative process will soon receive messages about logging into their online IRCC Secure Account, starting April 6, 2023, to opt in and update key personal information.
• IRCC is aware of issues that some PGWP holders experienced with the facilitative process used in 2022. Lessons learned from that process have been applied as we implement a similar one. The new public policy will allow anyone who was eligible under the 2022 initiative to apply for an open work permit and to restore their status. Instructions on applying will be available on IRCC’s website in the weeks ahead.
• International graduates are an important source of future permanent residents. Tens of thousands successfully transition to permanent residence each year, including more than 157,000 in 2021, a record high, and nearly 95,000 in 2022, the second-highest total ever.
• A PGWP is typically not extendable. PGWP holders who want to extend their stay in Canada as a worker are usually expected to apply for another type of work permit as their PGWP expires. Public policies previously adopted in 2021 and 2022 provided the opportunity for an additional work permit for those with expiring PGWPs.
• At the end of 2022, more than 286,000 international graduates were in Canada with a valid post-graduation work permit. About 127,000 PGWPs expire in 2023, though about 67,000 PGWP holders have already applied for permanent residence and won’t need to extend their work permit through this initiative.

Associated links

• August 2022 notice: New measures for foreign nationals with expired or expiring post-graduation work permits
• Post-Graduation Work Permit Program: Who can apply

 

Other Reference Article:

Canada’s Immigration Minister Sean Fraser has just announced those with an expiring Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) will be able to apply for an Open Work Permit extension as of April 6, 2023.

The Open Work Permit extension will be available to anyone whose PGWP expires in 2023. It will also be available to those whose PGWP expired in 2022 and applied for IRCC’s Open Work Permit extension last year.