The email that confirms your permanent residence application is complete can feel like the finish line. Then you look at your work permit and see it expires in ten weeks. A permanent residence application, however strong, does not by itself let you keep working. A bridging open work permit exists for that gap: it lets certain applicants stay on the job while they wait for a final decision.
Workers in Brampton’s warehouses, trucking yards, health-care settings, and offices often learn about this permit from coworkers, usually in a shortened form: “Once you apply for PR, you can get a bridging permit.” That is only sometimes true. It depends on the program, the stage your file has reached, and your current status, and asking at the wrong moment can waste a fee and valuable weeks.
This is general information, not legal advice about your application. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) changes these instructions from time to time and may add or remove programs, so read its current page before you apply.
What the Permit Actually Gives You
A bridging permit is an open work permit, which means it is generally not tied to one employer. You can stay in your current job or move to another, subject to the usual exceptions in open permits, such as restricted categories of employer or occupation noted on the permit. Its validity is set out on the permit itself, so read the actual expiry date and do not rely on what a colleague received.
It does not improve your permanent residence application, speed up processing, or guarantee approval. Its sole purpose is to let you keep working lawfully while the application is being decided. You must apply for it separately, and you pay both the work permit processing fee and the open work permit holder fee.
Who Can Apply
Certain conditions are common to all the streams. You must be the principal applicant, not a spouse or dependant on the file. You must be living in Canada when you apply. And you must fit one of these status situations:
- You hold valid temporary resident status and a valid work permit.
- Your permit has expired, but you have maintained your status as a worker because you applied to extend it in time.
- You are eligible to restore your status and obtain a work permit.
The expiry of your present permit also matters. IRCC’s help centre describes the eligibility condition for Express Entry applicants as a current work permit that expires in four months or less. The main program page does not repeat that number in its list of conditions. Treat four months as your working rule, and check the wording on IRCC’s site on the day you plan to apply. If your permit has longer to run, you may simply have to wait, and if you do not yet qualify, you may need to extend your current employer-specific permit instead.
The Stage Your File Must Reach
Here is where most misunderstandings arise, because the required stage differs by program.
Express Entry programs. This covers the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Canadian Experience Class, and the Federal Skilled Trades Program. You must have submitted a complete application for permanent residence, and it must have passed the completeness check. You should have an acknowledgement of receipt letter, and you upload it with your work permit application. A profile sitting in the pool does not count. An invitation to apply does not count either until you have actually filed the application and it has been accepted as complete.
Provincial nominees through Express Entry. The test is the same, with added conditions. You must intend to live outside Quebec, have your nomination letter, and hold a nomination without employment restrictions.
Provincial nominees outside Express Entry. This is the path many Ontario Immigrant Nominee Program applicants take. Your application must have passed the eligibility assessment, which is a further step than receipt alone. An acknowledgement of receipt letter does not mean IRCC has started on your bridging permit. IRCC waits until it confirms you meet the basic requirements, so you may face a wait even though everything has been filed. Plan with this delay in mind.
Caregiver and closed pilots. The Home Child Care Provider and Home Support Worker pilots that opened between 2019 and 2024, the older caregiver classes, and the Agri-Food Pilot have their own conditions, typically including approval in principle. IRCC’s current page says the Home Care Worker Immigration pilots that began in 2025 do not qualify. Quebec applicants and Quebec investors follow separate rules tied to a Certificat de sélection du Québec.
Many programs do not appear in that list. Unless a program is named by IRCC, do not assume a bridging permit is available. Spousal sponsorship applicants, for instance, have a separate open work permit option rather than this one. If your immigration route is outside the list, you may want to look at other work visas or temporary options.
The Nomination Restriction Problem
Provincial nominees sometimes learn this too late. If your nomination carries an employment restriction, you are not eligible for a bridging permit. A nomination tied to a specific employer or occupation is not a good fit with an open permit. Read your nomination letter line by line, and do not assume based on the stream’s title. Where a restriction exists, you may need to extend your existing permit in another way, and you may want to ask the province, or a representative, what its current correspondence says about work authorization for nominees.
There is another trap for nominees. The nomination is meant to reflect an intention to live in the nominating province. Using an open permit to take a job in a different province may have consequences for how an officer views that intention, even if the permit itself allows it. A Brampton worker nominated by Ontario who takes a lucrative offer in Alberta should get advice before accepting it.
Maintained Status and Timing
Maintained status, sometimes still called implied status, often comes up with this permit. If you file a work permit application before your current permit expires, and you stay in Canada, you are generally allowed to keep working under the same conditions until a decision is made. So your employer-specific permit’s conditions continue: same employer, same job, same location. Maintained status does not convert your closed permit into an open one. You cannot begin at a new company on the strength of your bridging application. You have to wait for the open permit.
Leaving Canada changes the picture. For Express Entry applicants, you can leave while the application is in process, but if you leave after your permit has expired, you cannot work on returning until a decision on your new application is made. For provincial nominees, IRCC warns that you must be in Canada with valid temporary status when the bridging decision is made, or the application may be refused. A short trip across the border to Buffalo that seems harmless can create real trouble during this window. Check with someone who knows your file before you travel.
Timing also interacts with your employer. Tell your payroll or human resources contact early that the renewal is under way. Employers often want something for their records. A copy of your filed application and an explanation of the rule usually helps, and you can point them to the IRCC guidance about working while waiting. Our temporary residence page has background on how status works in general.
If You Are Already Out of Status
An expired permit does not automatically end your options. Within 90 days of losing status, you may be able to apply for restoration, and IRCC lists a person eligible to restore as a possible bridging applicant. But during restoration, you generally may not work until a new work permit has been issued. If you work during this gap, even for a short time, you could damage both your temporary and your permanent residence applications. Do not assume a coworker’s quiet advice to keep working is safe.
Going past 90 days generally closes the restoration route, leaving much harder options. If you find you are close to that line, this is one of the times when acting immediately makes the biggest difference.
Filling Out the Application
The application is usually filed online through your IRCC account. Paper is available if you run into problems filing online. Pay attention to these points:
- Choose “open work permit” as the type of permit requested. A surprising number of people select the employer-specific option out of habit.
- Upload your acknowledgement of receipt letter where IRCC’s instructions say to place it. For Express Entry applicants, this means the “Client information” field.
- Add your nomination letter if you are a nominee.
- Make the dates, employers, and addresses consistent with your permanent residence application. An officer sees both.
- Pay both the processing and open work permit holder fees, and keep the receipts.
Your family members have separate considerations. A spouse does not get a bridging permit through you. Depending on your occupation and the length of your permit, your spouse might qualify for a family open work permit under separate criteria, and those rules were tightened. Review them instead of assuming that your bridging permit covers your family.
If the Permanent Residence Decision Goes the Wrong Way
IRCC’s bridging page does not spell out what happens to the permit if permanent residence is refused. You should not assume the permit will carry you indefinitely, nor that it disappears on the day of refusal. Read the refusal letter and your permit conditions closely, and get advice quickly. You may need to plan for an extension on other grounds or a different status, and a refusal could also start short clocks on a judicial review application.
Refusal is also a reason to look back at why it happened. If a work experience issue caused the refusal, an extension application with similar facts might draw the same concern. Keep your employer letters and duties consistent in both applications.
A Simple Timeline
To reduce the chance of trouble, consider working through your dates this way:
- Mark your current work permit’s expiry date and the four-month point before it.
- Note the date you filed for permanent residence and when you received your acknowledgement or eligibility confirmation.
- Read your nomination letter for any employment restriction.
- Decide what happens if the timing does not line up: is there another extension you can file instead?
- Apply before your permit expires so maintained status can protect your work, and avoid travel while the bridging decision is pending.
- Calendar the expiry of the bridging permit as soon as you receive it.
Most straightforward bridging applications can be filed by the applicant. It tends to be worth speaking to someone if you have already lost status, if your nomination might carry restrictions, or if your stream is not clearly listed by IRCC. You can contact Sawan Law House LLP to discuss your dates, though the final decision always rests with the officer. Careful attention to a calendar is what prevents most of the problems in this area, and that part is in your hands.