Family Open Work Permit

The Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced earlier in the year that only spouses of specific foreign workers and international students will be eligible to apply for a family Open Work Permit. The eligibility criteria are now more stringent. 

These changes have been made to the eligibility criteria for the application of the Family Open Work Permit (OWP) 

With the new criteria, only spouses of international students who are enrolled in 

• Select professionals and eligible programs
• Master’s program longer than 16 months
• Doctoral programs

are eligible for the permits.

For Foreign workers

The spouses of foreign workers who qualify for the Family Open Work Permit are workers in the 

• TEER O or 1 list
• Vocations having a skilled labour shortage in TEER 2 OR 3, or vocations related to government priorities.

The vocations are 

• Construction
• Natural Resources
• Sports
• Education
• Natural and Applied Sciences
• Health Care
• Military sectors

For applicants studying any of these professional degrees

• Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS, DMD)
• Bachelor of Law or Juris Doctor (LLB, JD, BCL)
• Doctor of Medicine (MD)
• Doctor of Optometry (OD)
• Pharmacy (PharmD, BS, BSc, BPharm)
• Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM)
• Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN, BSN)
• Bachelor of Nursing Science (BNSc)
• Bachelor of Nursing (BN)
• Bachelor of Education (BEd)
• Bachelor of Engineering (BEng, BE, BASc)

Additional information to note

• Approved Open Work Permits from the previous measures that have not yet expired are still valid.
• In cases where family members got a shorter work permit or where a student needs more time to complete their program,  the family members can apply for new work permits but they must apply under the same criteria as the current work permit and the duration of the renewal asked for is in tandem with the existing study or work permit of the principal applicants

Finally,

There have been significant changes in Canada’s immigration process and policy recently, and this is one of those. This new policy affects many families who plan to live and work in Canada. 

It is germane to stay abreast of the situation to enable proper planning.