A valid work permit opens the Canadian job market to foreign nationals. Without one, working in Canada is illegal, with a handful of exceptions. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) assesses every application under rules that have changed several times since 2024, and a single missing document is enough to have an application returned as incomplete.
This guide covers a first work permit application step by step: eligibility, documents, applying online, processing times and your options after a refusal. Patrice Brunet Avocats has practised immigration law since 1993 and has handled more than 3,000 files.
Working in Canada: are you eligible for a Canadian work permit?
Eligibility is decided on two levels. IRCC sets general requirements for every applicant, and each program then adds conditions of its own. Checking both before you prepare anything keeps you from building a file on the wrong foundation.
Choosing the wrong stream is expensive. An application filed in the wrong category is not simply delayed: it is refused, and that refusal stays on your immigration record.
IRCC’s general requirements for every foreign national
IRCC asks every foreign worker to establish five basic points, whatever type of permit is being sought. They apply to each foreign national, from the transferred executive to the seasonal cook:
- Your intention to leave Canada when your temporary status expires
- Proof of funds sufficient to support yourself and your family members
- No inadmissibility, whether on criminal, medical or security grounds
- Your willingness to undergo a medical exam if your situation calls for one
- An employer who does not appear on the list of non-compliant employers
Some occupations add a layer. A regulated profession, in health care especially, requires recognition of your credentials by the competent professional order before the question of a permit even arises. Foreign-trained physicians considering immigration to Canada face this double track.
Job offer, LMIA and the Quebec Acceptance Certificate
Most permits rest on a valid job offer from a Canadian employer. In many cases, that employer must first obtain a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), a document issued by Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) confirming that no Canadian candidate was available for the position. An LMIA-based work permit therefore depends on a process your employer runs ahead of you, with its own fees and its own timelines.
Quebec adds a second level of government. The Quebec Acceptance Certificate (CAQ), issued by the Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration (MIFI), is obtained in parallel with the federal application. Two governments, two decisions, two calendars.
LMIA-exempt employers go through the IRCC Employer Portal instead, where they submit the offer of employment and pay the employer compliance fee.
Open or employer-specific work permit: which one applies to you?
The employer-specific work permit, also called a closed work permit, ties you to one position and one work location. It flows from the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and requires a positive LMIA or an exemption granted under the International Mobility Program. Changing employers means a new application: a closed permit is not transferable.
The open work permit lets you work for almost any employer, with no job offer required beforehand. It is limited to defined situations: the Post-Graduation Work Permit, the spouse of certain skilled workers, the bridging permit for permanent residence applicants. International Experience Canada (IEC), for its part, issues Working Holiday permits to nationals of partner countries. Francophone Mobility and CUSMA open other exemption routes.
How to apply for a work permit in Canada online through your IRCC secure account
The Case Processing Centre returns an incomplete application without assessing it, and a returned application is treated as never having been submitted. Submitting your application should therefore be prepared like an evidentiary file: every requirement on the checklist calls for a clear supporting document.
Almost everything is done online. You upload your documents to a personal account, you pay, you give your fingerprints.
Required documents: passport, employment contract and proof of funds
Your passport dictates how long the permit will be valid: IRCC never issues a permit that runs past your passport’s expiry date. Check that date before anything else.
A typical file then brings together:
- The employment contract or job offer letter setting out the position, the salary and the wage conditions
- A copy of the positive LMIA, or the offer of employment number submitted by your employer
- Your diplomas, professional certifications and résumé
- Proof of funds in the form of bank statements
- A police certificate for each country where you have lived six months or more
The medical exam, for its part, is performed by an IRCC panel physician. It becomes mandatory depending on your country of residence and for any job involving contact with the public or work in the health sector.
Form IMM 1295 or IMM 5710, biometrics and processing fees
The form depends on where you are applying from. An application from outside Canada uses IMM 1295, set out in Guide 5487. An application made inside Canada goes through IMM 5710 and Guide 5553. Either way, your online work permit application starts with creating an IRCC secure account, whose eligibility questionnaire generates a personalized document checklist: that checklist governs, not the generic lists found elsewhere. If the application is prepared by our cabinet, there is no need to create an account: we will submit the application through our authorized representative portal.
Then come the fees for the permit, with additional fees for an open work permit, and for biometrics. The visa application centre collects your biometrics, fingerprints and photo. Depending on your nationality, IRCC attaches a temporary resident visa (TRV) or an electronic travel authorization (eTA) to the approved permit, with no additional fee or form.
At Patrice Brunet Avocats, every application is verified by two people before it is sent.
Have your work permit application reviewed before you submit
A file review costs $360 plus taxes. Our lawyers read your complete application and flag what will catch the immigration officer’s eye.
Processing times: what happens after you submit your application
IRCC publishes its processing times by program and by country, and updates them weekly. That official tool remains your only reliable reference: it reflects how long processing took for 80% of recently finalized applications, not a promise.
Three factors make the processing time vary: the program you are applying under, the visa office handling your file and the volume of applications in the queue. A request for further information from the immigration officer sets the counter moving again. Our analysis of visa and work permit delays in the Ivan Demidov case shows that even a highly publicized file moves at the system’s pace.
Letter of introduction, maintained status and receiving your permit at the port of entry
Approval from abroad does not produce the permit immediately. IRCC sends you a letter of introduction, which you present to a Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officer on arrival. The permit is handed to you at the port of entry, and that is where receiving the permit is decided: the officer can still verify your admissibility.
If you are already in the country and you apply before your current permit expires, maintained status authorizes you to keep working under the same conditions while the application is processed. That status ends if you leave Canada. Once you have your new permit in hand, your Social Insurance Number follows suit, though you may need to take some steps to update it
Work permit refusal: reasons and your options
A refusal is almost never final. What matters is understanding which of the grounds for refusal was decisive. The most common ones: missing or inconsistent documents, doubt about your intention to leave Canada, proof of funds considered insufficient, a job offer considered not genuine, inadmissibility, an administrative error in the forms.
New application or judicial review before the Federal Court
Two paths open up. You can file a new work permit application that responds precisely to the grounds cited, which suits a refusal based on a documentary gap. You can also challenge the decision through an application for leave and judicial review before the Federal Court, the appropriate route when the officer made an error of law or breached procedural fairness.
This second recourse has one particularity: only a lawyer can argue it. An immigration consultant does not hold that right of representation. Our lawyers, members of the Barreau du Québec, are bound by professional secrecy and covered by liability insurance, and our immigration law services extend to litigation before the Federal Court.
The deadline to file an application for leave is short. Act as soon as you receive the refusal letter.
Speak with a lawyer after a work permit refusal
Every refusal leaves a trace on your file. We review the decision letter, then choose between a new application and judicial review.
FAQ: getting a work permit in Canada
The questions our clients ask most often when they want to apply for a work permit.
How much does a work permit application cost?
IRCC fees come to $155 per person, plus $100 for an open work permit and $85 for biometrics. The employer separately covers the LMIA fee or the compliance fee. These amounts are in Canadian dollars and the government adjusts them periodically.
Do you need a work visa or a permit to work in Canada?
The work visa does not exist as such under Canadian law. It is the work permit that gives you authorization to work. A temporary resident visa or an eTA, depending on your nationality, is what lets you enter the country, and IRCC issues both documents together when the application is approved.
Can a work permit be renewed or extended?
Yes, provided you apply before your current permit expires. Work permit renewal and extension follow rules distinct from those governing a first application, particularly on maintained status. Our guide to extending a work permit in Canada sets out the process.
Does a work permit lead to permanent residence?
Often, yes. A temporary work permit lets you build Canadian work experience, and that experience counts in nearly every permanent program: Express Entry federally, the Quebec Skilled Worker Selection Program (PSTQ) in Quebec, and Provincial Nominee Programs elsewhere in the country.
Book your immigration consultation with a member of the Bar
A full 45-minute consultation, $250 plus taxes, refunded if your answers are not clear. We cover Quebec, the rest of Canada and the United States.
