Your work permit is expiring and your employer hasn’t done its part

Current as of October 2026. Work permit rules change often. Check the current requirements, or speak with a lawyer, before you rely on anything below.

Your work permit expires in a few weeks. You have asked your employer about the renewal more than once, and the answer is always some version of “we’re working on it.” The LMIA hasn’t come through, or nobody can tell you whether the job offer was ever submitted. You can’t file your extension without them, and the expiry date isn’t moving.

This is one of the most common emergencies temporary foreign workers face, and it is stressful because so much of it sits in someone else’s hands. But you have more control than it feels like. This post explains what depends on your employer, what you can do yourself, which other permits may be open to you, and the mistakes that turn a delay into a loss of status.

What your employer has to do before you can apply

If you hold an employer-specific work permit, the permit is tied to a particular job. To extend it, or to get a new one for the same job, the employer has to complete its part of the process first. What that part looks like depends on whether your job needs a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA).

If your job needs an LMIA. Your employer applies to Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) for a new LMIA. A work permit for an LMIA-based job can only be issued once an officer has a positive LMIA to rely on. IRCC’s own instructions say that in most cases you should wait to apply for your extension until your employer gives you the positive LMIA decision letter. LMIA processing can take months, so an employer who starts late can leave you with very little room.

If your job is LMIA-exempt. Many permits don’t need an LMIA, including permits under trade agreements such as the CPTPP and intra-company transfers. For these, the employer must submit the job offer through IRCC’s Employer Portal and pay the employer compliance fee. The portal then generates an offer of employment number, which starts with the letter “A,” and the employer gives that number to you to include in your application. The regulations require this to happen before you apply. If it hasn’t, the officer must refuse the work permit. There is no “pending” option here: an LMIA-exempt application without a valid offer number is not one you want to file.

Our post on LMIA-based vs LMIA-exempt work permits explains how to tell which category your job falls into.

A warning about low-wage jobs. Since September 2024, ESDC has refused to process low-wage LMIA applications for jobs located in census metropolitan areas where the unemployment rate is 6% or higher, unless an exemption applies. The list of affected areas is updated every three months, and Toronto is on it for the current period. If your wage is below the provincial threshold and you work in an affected area, your employer may not be able to get a new LMIA for your current job at all. We explain this in more detail in our post on low-wage LMIA refusals. If this applies to you, start looking at the other options below now, not in the last month.

The two-week exception for LMIA jobs

There is one situation where you can apply before the LMIA decision arrives. IRCC’s instructions allow you to submit your extension while your employer’s LMIA application is still being processed if both of these are true:

• your work permit expires in two weeks or less; and
• your employer has already submitted a complete LMIA application to ESDC (or, in Quebec, the equivalent provincial application).

In that case you include proof of your job offer and proof that the LMIA was applied for, such as the online receipt confirmation number, along with details of when and where it was submitted. IRCC won’t decide your work permit until it receives the LMIA, but because you applied before your permit expired, you can keep working for the same employer, in the same job, while you wait.

Three points matter here. First, the employer must have actually filed a complete LMIA application. “We’re about to apply” doesn’t count. Second, this exception is for LMIA jobs. It doesn’t help if your employer simply hasn’t entered an LMIA-exempt offer in the Employer Portal. Third, the outcome still depends on the LMIA. If ESDC refuses it, you should expect the work permit to be refused too, and your status would end on the date of that refusal.

How maintained status protects you, and where it stops

If you apply to extend your work permit before it expires and stay in Canada, you keep your status while IRCC processes the application. This used to be called implied status. You can keep working under the same conditions as your expired permit: same employer, same job, same location. For most online applicants, IRCC issues a letter you can show an employer as proof that you’re allowed to keep working. Our post on implied status vs maintained status covers the background.

The protection has firm edges:

• The deadline is the expiry date itself. An online application must be submitted before midnight Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) on the day your permit expires. In Toronto, that is the evening of your expiry date, not midnight local time.
• It only covers the job you already have. Maintained status lets you keep doing what your expired permit allowed. It doesn’t let you start with a new employer.
• It ends if you leave Canada. If you travel while your application is pending, you may be able to re-enter, but you can’t resume work until the new permit is approved.
• It ends on refusal. If the application is refused, your status ends on the date of the refusal. From that date you have 90 days to apply to restore your status, and you can’t work in the meantime.
• An incomplete application doesn’t count. If IRCC returns your application as incomplete, it is treated as if it was never submitted. You keep status only until your original expiry date, which may already have passed by the time you find out.

A note on second applications. Since May 28, 2025, IRCC has applied a stricter rule to people who file a second application while the first is still pending. If the first application is refused, a second one only keeps you in status if you filed it before your original permit expired. A second application filed after that date doesn’t give you maintained status, and it will be refused. Filing a “backup” application is therefore not the safety net many people assume it is. What you file, and when, affects whether you can keep working, so get advice before you file more than one application.

If your employer can’t finish in time: other options

Sometimes the employer will get there late. Sometimes it won’t get there at all, because the business has changed its plans, the LMIA can’t be processed, or the relationship has broken down. Either way, it is worth checking now whether another route is open to you. Most of these must be applied for while you still have status, so the time to look is before your expiry date, not after.

An open work permit through your spouse or partner. If your spouse or common-law partner is in Canada on a work or study permit, you may qualify for a family open work permit. Since January 21, 2025, this is far narrower than it used to be. For spouses of workers, the worker generally has to be in a TEER 0 or 1 occupation, or in one of a selected list of TEER 2 or 3 occupations, and must have at least 16 months left on their permit when you apply. Separately, if your spouse or partner is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and is sponsoring you from inside Canada, you can usually apply for an open work permit once the sponsorship application has been acknowledged as received, provided you live together and have valid status or maintained status. See our post on spousal open work permits.

A bridging open work permit. If you have already applied for permanent residence under Express Entry (Federal Skilled Worker, Canadian Experience Class or Federal Skilled Trades), a Provincial Nominee Program, or certain other programs, you may be able to get a bridging open work permit that lets you keep working while the permanent residence application is processed. The permanent residence application has to be at the right stage. For Express Entry, that means a complete application that has passed the completeness check, not just a profile in the pool. You also need a valid work permit, maintained status, or eligibility to restore your status. Not every permanent residence program qualifies, so check yours.

A post-graduation work permit. If you studied in Canada, recently finished an eligible program and have never had a PGWP, check whether you are still within the application window. A PGWP is open, so it doesn’t depend on any employer. It is available only once in your life. Our PGWP guide sets out the requirements.

A new employer. If another employer is ready to hire you and can get an LMIA, or the job qualifies as LMIA-exempt, you can apply for a new employer-specific permit for that job. Normally you can’t start with the new employer until the new permit is approved. However, a public policy in effect since May 27, 2025 lets workers in Canada who have applied for a new work permit ask IRCC, through its online process, for permission to start with the new employer while the application is processed. You may only start once IRCC confirms the exemption. Our post on changing employers on a closed work permit walks through it.

An open work permit for vulnerable workers. If the delay is part of a wider pattern of mistreatment, such as threats, unpaid wages, withheld documents or retaliation for complaining, you may qualify for an open work permit for vulnerable workers. You must be in Canada and hold a valid employer-specific permit, or have applied to renew one and be working under maintained status. This permit lets you leave the employer without losing the right to work.

Extending as a visitor. If nothing else is available before your expiry date, you can apply to change your status to visitor so that you remain in Canada lawfully. Understand what you give up. You must stop working once your work permit expires. And visitors generally can’t apply for a new work permit from inside Canada. The temporary policy that allowed this ended on August 28, 2024. If you later get a job offer, you would usually have to apply as someone outside Canada. If that application is approved while you are still here, IRCC requires you to leave Canada and re-enter to activate the permit, and re-entering from the United States or Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon doesn’t count. Since December 2024, the border has also stopped issuing work permits to most people who make a quick trip out and back for that purpose.

If your permit has already expired

If the expiry date passed and you didn’t apply in time, you are out of status, and you must stop working immediately. You may still be able to apply to restore your status. The restoration application has to reach IRCC within 90 days of the date your status expired. You have to meet the requirements for the permit you are asking for, which means your employer still needs to have the LMIA or the offer of employment number in place. You also must not have broken any other conditions, such as working without authorization. You can generally stay in Canada while the restoration application is processed, but you can’t work until your status is restored and a new permit is issued. If restoration is refused, you have to leave Canada.

There is a narrow exception for workers in certain provincial nominee pools who receive a support letter from a participating province. They may be able to restore status even after the 90 days have passed. Our post on restoration of status explains the 90-day period step by step.

What not to do

• Don’t keep working after your expiry date unless you applied to extend as a worker before the permit expired. Unauthorized work can make you ineligible for restoration and cause problems in future applications.
• Don’t let the date pass while you wait for your employer. If the LMIA or offer won’t be ready, choose one of the other routes before expiry. Status is far easier to keep than to get back.
• Don’t file an incomplete application to “hold your place.” An application returned as incomplete is treated as if it never existed. One filed without the employer’s documents, outside the two-week LMIA exception, risks refusal. Either way, you can end up out of status with less time to fix it.
• Don’t start with a new employer early. Wait for the new permit or for IRCC’s confirmation under the public policy.
• Don’t travel while your application is pending without understanding that you won’t be able to work again until it is approved.
• Don’t rely on “it’s being handled.” Ask for the LMIA confirmation number or the offer of employment number. A specific number is the only real proof anything has been filed.

A timeline to work from

Earlier is always better, especially for LMIA jobs. If your permit expires within the next few months, use this as a guide.

• 90 days before expiry: Ask your employer in writing whether they intend to support your renewal, and whether your job needs an LMIA or is LMIA-exempt. If it needs an LMIA and none has been filed, raise it now. Check whether your wage and work location fall under the low-wage processing freeze. Start gathering your own documents: passport, current permit, recent pay stubs and a letter confirming your employment.
• 60 days before expiry: Ask for proof of progress, such as the LMIA submission date and confirmation number, or confirmation that the offer was submitted in the Employer Portal and the fee paid. If there is no clear answer, start preparing a backup route: a spousal open work permit, a bridging open work permit, a PGWP, or a new employer. Get advice on which fits.
• 30 days before expiry: If your employer has the LMIA decision letter or the offer of employment number, apply now rather than waiting until the last week. If not, decide which backup route you will use and prepare that application so it is ready to file.
• The final two weeks: If your employer has filed a complete LMIA application, you may be able to apply for the extension now using the two-week exception. If no route is ready, apply to extend as a visitor so you remain in status, understanding that you will have to stop working.
• On the expiry date: Make sure something has been submitted online before midnight UTC. Keep the submission confirmation.

Questions to ask your employer

Ask these in writing, by email, so you have a record of the answers.

• Do you intend to support my work permit renewal for the same job?
• Does my job need a new LMIA, or is it LMIA-exempt?
• If it needs an LMIA: has the application been filed? On what date, and what is the confirmation number? Is it a high-wage or low-wage application?
• If it is LMIA-exempt: has the offer been submitted in the Employer Portal and the compliance fee paid? What is the offer of employment number?
• Will my duties, wage, hours or work location change? If so, the new permit needs to reflect them.
• Who is preparing the employer’s side: someone in-house, or a lawyer or representative? Can I speak with them directly?
• When will I receive the LMIA decision letter or the offer number, and the job offer letter for my application?

If the answers are vague, treat that as information. It may be time to put a backup route in motion.

How we can help

At Kabir & Alam, we help workers in this position work out which route is open to them before the expiry date, and we prepare and file the application, whether that is an extension, a new permit, an open work permit or a restoration. Where it helps, we can also speak with your employer or their representative about what is still outstanding. Read more about our work permit practice or book a consultation with us.

This post is general information about Canadian immigration law and is not legal advice. Every case turns on its own facts. Speak with a lawyer about your situation before making decisions.