The Canadian government has ended a temporary policy introduced during Covid that allowed visitors to apply for a work permit from within Canada, effective immediately.

The policy was introduced in August 2020 to help visitors who were unable to leave the country due to pandemic-related travel restrictions to apply for a work permit without leaving the country and support themselves. Individuals who held a work permit in the previous 12 months but changed their status in Canda to ‘visitor’ could apply to work legally in Canada while waiting for a decision on their new work permit application.

While the temporary policy was set to expire on February 28, 2025, the IRCC has raised concerns that some “bad actors” were using the policy to mislead overseas nationals into working in Canada without authorisation.  The government is trying to recalibrate the number of temporary residents in Canada and preserve the integrity of the immigration system.

Source: IRCC, Canada