As of August 28, 2024, temporary residents in Canada holding a visitor visa are no longer eligible to apply for a work permit from within Canada.

This change means the end of a policy initially introduced in August 2020, which was designed to support visitors unable to return home due to pandemic-related border closures. The policy allowed visitors to apply for a work permit without having to leave Canada, and those who had held a work permit in the past 12 months but had switched to visitor status were granted permission to work legally while awaiting a decision on their new work permit application. Originally, this policy was set to expire on February 28, 2025. However, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has decided to end it ahead of schedule as part of broader efforts to manage the number of temporary residents in Canada and protect the integrity of the immigration system.

The IRCC confirmed that applications submitted before August 28, 2024 will continue to be processed as planned.

Crackdown on Immigration Fraud

IRCC has stated that one of the reasons for the early termination of this policy is the discovery that some “bad actors” were exploiting it, misleading foreign nationals into working in Canada without proper authorization. This decision is part of the government’s ongoing campaign to fight immigration fraud and reduce temporary resident levels in the country.

For instance, last year, 700 Indian international students were found to be in Canada due to fraudulent letters of acceptance from Designated Learning Institutions (DLIs), with many students unaware of the scam. To address this, IRCC now requires DLIs to verify all letters of acceptance within 10 days of receiving an international student’s application. Additionally, the government has implemented a cap on the number of international students allowed into Canada for the next two years.

Broader Changes to Temporary Foreign Worker Levels

This policy shift coincides with a series of major changes targeting the reduction of temporary foreign worker levels in Canada. On August 26, the Department announced a pause on the processing of certain Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) applications for the Low-Wage stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP), effective September 26, 2024. This measure will affect applicants in Census Metropolitan Areas with an unemployment rate of 6% or higher.

IRCC also announced new restrictions on the number of foreign workers that employers in Canada can hire under the TFWP, limiting it to 10% of their total workforce. Furthermore, the maximum employment term for workers under the Low-Wage stream has been reduced to one year, down from two.

These changes are in line with the government’s ongoing efforts to roll back pandemic-era immigration policies that were implemented to address urgent labour needs at the time. For example, during the pandemic, IRCC, in collaboration with Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), introduced temporary policies allowing Canadian employers to hire up to 30% of their workforce through the Low-Wage stream of the TFWP and extended the validity period of LMIAs to 12 months.

IRCC and ESDC began dismantling these temporary measures last May, following a joint press conference held by Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault and Immigration Minister Marc Miller. At that event, Minister Miller also introduced the historic inclusion of temporary resident levels into the annual Immigration Levels Plan—a first in Canadian immigration history.

Immigration remains a central issue in Canada, with much of this year’s announcements focusing on managing and reducing temporary resident levels. This week, Minister Miller signalled that the government is also considering changes to permanent residence levels in the coming years.