A better offer comes along. Or the job you moved to Canada for turns out to be nothing like the contract. Or your employer’s business falters and your hours dry up. Whatever the reason, you want to change jobs – but your work permit has your current employer’s name printed on it.
Can you move? Yes – but not the way a Canadian citizen or permanent resident would.
Changing employers on an employer-specific (“closed”) work permit is a legal process, not just a career decision, and doing it in the wrong order can cost you your status.
Here is how to do it properly.
The core rule: new permit first, new job second
An employer-specific permit authorizes work only for the employer, position, and usually location named on it. Working for anyone else – even part-time, even briefly, even while “waiting for paperwork” – is unauthorized work.
The consequences are serious: it can render you inadmissible, jeopardize future applications, and undermine pathways to permanent residence.
So the sequence is fixed:
- Your new employer completes their side first: Depending on the position, that means obtaining a Labour Market Impact Assessment or, if an exemption applies, submitting the offer through the employer portal and paying the compliance fee. Which route applies is the LMIA question we unpack in our post on LMIA-based vs. LMIA-exempt permits – and note that the new job is assessed on its own merits; your existing permit gives the new employer no shortcut.
- You apply for a new work permit based on the new offer, from within Canada.
- You start the new job only when authorized: In the ordinary course, that means when the new permit is approved.
There is an important accelerator: Canada has offered a facilitated process allowing workers already in Canada to begin a new job after applying, once IRCC confirms they may start – without waiting for final approval. The availability and conditions of this facilitation have evolved over time, so confirm the current process before relying on it; when available, it can shrink the transition from months to weeks.
Do not simply assume it applies and never start on the strength of the application alone without the required confirmation.
Mind your status while you wait
If you apply for your new permit before your current one expires, you benefit from maintained status: you remain lawfully in Canada under the conditions of your existing permit while the application is processed. But be precise about what that means – maintained status continues your current authorization, so it lets you keep working for your current employer, not start with the new one.
We explain the distinction in our post on implied status vs. maintained status.
Timing traps to avoid: letting your permit expire before applying (restoration of status is possible but leaves you unable to work while it processes), and resigning from your current job before the new authorization is in place, which can leave you in Canada with status but no income and no right to work anywhere.
If you’re leaving because something is wrong
A special route exists for workers whose reason for leaving is mistreatment. If you are experiencing abuse – or are at risk of it – in your job, you may qualify for an open work permit for vulnerable workers, which frees you from the employer entirely and lets you work elsewhere while you regroup.
“Abuse” here is broader than many workers realize: it can include threats connected to your immigration status, intimidation, financial abuse such as sustained wage theft, and dangerous conditions. If this is your situation, get advice quickly and document everything; you do not have to stay in an abusive workplace to protect your status.
Workers should also know their permit does not bind them to endure contract violations. Unpaid wages and labour standards issues have their own remedies, and employer compliance with the terms of the offer is something the immigration system itself polices.
Plan the move like the legal transition it is
The successful job changes we see share a pattern: the worker gets advice early, the new employer starts the LMIA or portal process while the worker is still employed, the application is filed with status intact, and the start date is set by the authorization – not the offer letter. The failed ones share a pattern too: someone started work early, let status lapse, or assumed the rules from a friend’s situation applied to theirs.
Kabir & Alam Lawyers advises workers and employers on job changes, permit applications, maintained status, and vulnerable worker permits.
If you are contemplating a move – or already mid-transition and unsure of your footing – book a consultation, and see our Work Permits service page for more.