Temporary public policies aiming to transition foreign nationals already living and working in Canada to permanent residence were announced on April 14, 2021 and launched on May 6, 2021.

To support these permanent resident public policies, the Temporary public policy to exempt certain permanent residence applicants from work permit requirements was signed on July 4. 2021, to provide exemptions from certain requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) to facilitate the issuance of open work permits to eligible individuals in Canada. Eligible family members may also apply for an open work permit.

A new public policy on issuing open work permits was signed on April 21, 2022 to come into effect on June 6, 2022.

The new public policy will:

  • allow the issuance of open work permits with a longer duration (until December 31, 2024) to avoid the need for renewals; and
  • expand the eligibility criteria of the open work permit public policy to include eligible family members abroad to help speed up family reunification.

This replacement public policy will be applied retroactively to pending applications for a work permit made under the initial public policy, as well as all applications received after the date that this public policy takes effect.

This is superb news! More than 50% of TR-PR applications are still in process and they are not expected to complete until the end of 2023, as per recent report by IRCC at June 3, 2022 CBA national immigration conference. This policy will support many applicants in waiting effectively.

Read more about the temporary and new public policy at https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/publications-manuals/operational-bulletins-manuals/temporary-residents/foreign-workers/special-initiatives-pilot-project/tr-pr-pathway.html