You open the drawer, pull out your work permit to make a copy for a landlord, and read the date twice. It expired three weeks ago. Your stomach drops, and in the next five minutes you will probably consider calling your boss, booking a flight, and asking a friend who knows a consultant. Please slow down and do something simpler first: get out a calendar and count the exact number of days since your status ended.
That number decides most of what comes next. Canadian immigration law gives many temporary residents a short window to apply to restore their status, and that window is firm. Inside it, you may have a real option. Outside it, your options shrink, and they usually involve either leaving Canada or a far more difficult application.
This article offers general information rather than legal advice on your particular facts. Rules and fees are changed by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), so check what applies when you file. If your deadline is close, speak with someone authorized to give immigration advice as soon as you can.
Three Words People Mix Up
Valid status means that your permit or visitor record is current and you are following its conditions.
Maintained status applies when you applied to extend before your status expired. While IRCC decides, you can stay in Canada under the same conditions. A worker who applied in time can generally keep working in the same job under the same conditions, and a student can generally keep studying. People sometimes call this “implied status,” an older term.
Restoration is for those who have already lost status and are applying afterward. It is not an extension, and it gives you no right to work or study while you wait. This distinction causes more harm than almost any other in temporary immigration law. Someone who misses the date by two days and keeps working, believing they are “on maintained status,” may be working without authorization.
How You Can Lose Status Without Realizing It
Letting the date on your permit pass is the obvious way, but it is not the only one. You can also lose status by breaching your conditions, for example:
- Changing employers, job location, or the type of work before you get a new work permit, if your permit is employer-specific.
- Changing your program, school, location, or schedule without taking the required steps to change the conditions of your study permit.
- Working more than a student’s permitted off-campus hours.
- Staying past the date on a visitor record, which may be shorter than the visa in your passport.
A common Brampton example, offered as a hypothetical, is a worker with an employer-specific permit whose company closes or is sold. They take a job at a warehouse down the road, assuming that work is work. That may be a change in employer without authorization. The worker might have lost status on that day, not on the date printed on the permit.
Also note that an entry visa and a permit are different. Your temporary resident visa can have a later date than your work or study permit, and it does not keep you in status.
The 90-Day Rule
Under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, you may be able to restore your status if you apply within 90 days of losing it. Check when your 90 days began. It usually starts on the day your status expired, or on the day you breached a condition, and that is not always the day you discovered the issue.
Don’t plan to file on day 89. Applications must be complete, and if an application is rejected as incomplete, it is treated as never having been submitted. If that happens at the end of the window, you could find yourself past 90 days with nothing on file. Aim to file well before that, leaving room for a document problem or a payment problem.
Restoration is not automatic, either. An officer must be satisfied that you still meet the requirements for the status you are seeking, and that you have complied with the other conditions. IRCC is clear that approval is not guaranteed, and that processing fees are not refunded after processing begins.
What You Must Stop Doing
Applying does not, on its own, put you back in status. You may not work or study until your restoration and any related permit have been approved. This is often the hardest part in practice, because rent is due and your employer is asking when you are coming back.
Working without authorization while a restoration application is pending can seriously damage that application and your future ones. Tell your employer the truth and, if you can, get a clear note in writing of what your job status will be while you wait. A student may need to speak with the registrar or the international office at their college about what happens to their classes in the meantime, because IRCC has said that they cannot continue or restart studies until status and a fresh study permit have been restored.
Leaving Canada has consequences as well. Leaving generally ends the restoration path that depends on your being here. It may also affect your ability to return, particularly if you need a visa. Before buying a ticket, get advice about what is lost and what is gained.
How to Apply
Most people apply online through their IRCC account, choosing the right type of application. Under the current fee list, restoring status costs $246.25. Workers also pay the work permit fee, for a combined $401.25, and students also pay the study permit fee, for a combined $396.25. Open work permits and some other types may have additional fees, so check the current fee list when you pay. Each family member who has lost status needs their own restoration, and the fees apply to each.
Your application should include, at a minimum:
- A full and truthful written explanation of how you lost status, and why.
- Your passport pages and your most recent permit or visitor record.
- Your plan for staying in Canada and your reasons for it.
- Proof of how you will support yourself during that time, since you cannot work.
- Any documents required for the underlying permit, such as an employer-specific offer and LMIA, a letter of acceptance, or proof of family relationships.
Students should note that restoring a post-secondary study permit generally requires a fresh provincial attestation letter, even when they are staying at the same school and the same level of study. Workers who need an employer-specific permit need that employer to have the right paperwork ready, which may not be simple if an LMIA is involved and may take longer than your window allows. In that case, you may need to think about whether you can restore to visitor status first.
The explanation letter is important. Take responsibility for your error and explain the facts: what happened, when you discovered it, and what you have done since. An officer does not expect perfection, but will notice a story that changes or that leaves out an obvious fact. False or misleading statements can lead to a separate and much more serious problem, including a misrepresentation finding.
Restoring as a Visitor First
Some people cannot immediately qualify for the permit they really want. A worker whose employer does not yet have an LMIA, for example, cannot simply apply for an employer-specific permit. A person in this position may be able to restore to visitor status while the rest is organized, if they can show how they will support themselves and when they plan to leave.
You can also apply for restoration as a visitor along with a work or study permit, in which case the permit application is considered after the restoration decision. Be honest about your plans in each application, and be careful that they do not contradict one another.
If the 90 Days Have Already Passed
If you are past the window, IRCC’s position is that you generally must leave Canada, and remaining without status can lead to an admissibility report, a hearing, and a removal order. A removal order may bring serious long-term consequences for returning, so that risk needs thinking through. Options may still exist in particular situations, but they are narrower and discretionary:
- A temporary resident permit, for people who are inadmissible but have compelling reasons to be here.
- A spousal sponsorship in Canada, where a public policy may help certain spouses without status.
- A humanitarian and compassionate application, which requires strong grounds and does not itself give you status.
- Leaving and applying from abroad, once the consequences have been reviewed.
These routes depend heavily on your facts and on current policy. Avoid anyone who promises a quick fix or tells you that an expired permit doesn’t matter. In particular, be careful if you have been told that you can simply marry someone or file something to “stop the clock.” Such advice may leave you worse off.
If You Have Been Contacted by Authorities
If you have been contacted by the Canada Border Services Agency, or you have an appointment or a hearing date, do not ignore it. Take any paperwork to a lawyer immediately. Similarly, if you have had any contact with Peel Regional Police, or you have a criminal charge before the courts in Brampton at the courthouse at 7755 Hurontario Street, mention it right away. Criminal and immigration matters can interact in ways that change the advice you should receive.
A Practical Way to Prevent This
Once you have restored your status, or if you are reading this ahead of time, set up a simple system so this does not happen again:
- Put every expiry date (permit, passport, biometrics, visitor record) in your phone calendar, with alerts six months and three months ahead.
- Plan to apply well before the deadline, as early as IRCC’s rules allow, to protect maintained status.
- Keep your IRCC login details and proof of submission somewhere safe.
- Check with someone before you change your job, your program, or your employer.
If you are facing a deadline right now, gather your permit, your passport, and any IRCC letters. Note the date you lost status. Then contact Sawan Law House LLP or another authorized representative, and tell them on the first call how many days remain. Our pages on temporary residence and other immigration services describe the kinds of issues that can be reviewed. No representative can promise the outcome, but every day you act sooner leaves you with more options to consider.