Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP)

To apply for a PGWP from inside of Canada, it is important to have a valid study permit when applying for the PGWP. 

• If you have applied to extend your study permit before the expiry date and you are under maintained status, you must wait until your new study permit is received before you can apply for a PGWP. You still need to apply for the PGWP within the 180 days.
• Remember your study permit will expire on the date marked on the permit or 90 days after the day you complete your studies, whichever comes first.
• It is highly recommended to apply as soon as possible after you have received written confirmation of your program completion, when your study permit is still valid. 
• If your study permit expires before you submit your PGWP application, you will have to restore your status as a student. You can pay the restoration fee and include this receipt with your application for a PGWP, so that you’re effectively submitting both ‘applications’ together, even though you don’t need to fill out a separate application form for the restoration process. In this case, you would have to submit this application within 90 days of losing your student status, so that you’re applying within the period for restoration. In this case, remember you cannot work until your PGWP is approved. This option is more complex and is not recommended.

You can submit an application from “outside of Canada” either by leaving the country, or if you’re inside of Canada and have maintained your temporary resident status as a visitor (meaning that you applied for a visitor record before your study permit expired). If you are applying for your PGWP as a visitor inside of Canada, you can submit your application online to be processed outside of Canada and can stay in Canada with valid visitor status while the application is being processed, but you can’t work until you’ve received your PGWP.

You may only work part-time hours until the first date you receive written confirmation of program completion from your educational institution (for instance, an email, a letter, a transcript or a diploma), provided your study permit remains valid during this period. Once a student receives written confirmation of program completion from their institution, they are no longer authorized to continue to work in Canada, as they no longer meet the eligibility criteria to work off-campus (R186(v)). At this point, the student should submit their application for their PGWP. 

You may be able to work full-time while IRCC processes your application. Section R186(w) allows students who have a submitted an application for the PGWP to work full-time if they meet the following criteria:

• They were already able to work off campus during their studies (meaning that they were a full-time student during each academic session of their program)
• They applied for a post-graduation work permit (PGWP) before their study permit expired
• They are waiting for a decision on their work permit application
   

Visit IRCC’s website and click on the link to sign-in or create an account: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/account.html . Log-in to your IRCC secure account. If you don’t already have an IRCC secure account, create a GC Key or use the Sign-In Partner option with your Canadian banking credentials to log-in. It doesn’t matter which log-in option you choose; both will allow you to access the IRCC secure system. You will be asked to create recovery and security questions – make sure you write these down somewhere for future reference.

Scroll down on the main page & select ‘Apply to come to Canada’. Under the ‘I do not have a Personal Reference Code’ section, click on the button for ‘Visitor visa, study and/or work permit’. Answer all the questions accurately in the eligibility tool. Your document checklist and application form (IMM 5710) will be generated at the end of the questionnaire. Consider the following when you are answering these questions: 

• Select “Work” to answer the first question “What would you like to do in Canada?” 
• IRCC will ask you a series of questions related to working in Canada. Only answer ‘Yes’ to the question “Have you recently graduated from a participating Canadian post-secondary institution for which your study program was full-time and a minimum of eight months”. You can select ‘No’ for the questions about on-campus work, working off-campus, and working in a Co-Op position. 
• For the question “Do you have a written job offer?” please answer ‘No’, even if you do have a job offer or current employment. Having a job or job offer is not one of the eligibility requirements for the PGWP, so you should be answering ‘No’ to this question. 
• IRCC will ask you some questions to determine if you need to submit a medical exam with your application:
  • For the question “Have you had a medical exam performed by an IRCC panel physician (doctor) within the last 12 months” answer ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ according to your situation. If you have had a medical exam performed within the last 12 months, you will be required to upload the IME form that you received from the panel physician. 
  • For the question “Have you lived in a designated country or territory for more than six months in the last year?” you should select “No” if you have not been outside Canada for more than 6 months in the past year. 
  • If they ask whether or not you want to work in a job in which public health must be protected, select ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ according to your situation. If you want to work in education, health care, etc., and you don’t submit a medical exam with your PGWP application, you could receive a work permit with conditions that restrict you from working in these fields. 

Complete the application form Application to Change Conditions, Extend my Stay or Remain in Canada as a Worker (IMM5710). Please review the information in the Guide 5580 carefully, then consider the following to help you understand the questions in the form:

• UCI: can be found on your study permit & TRV.
• PERSONAL DETAILS:
  • Question 7: “From” date should be the date you received the first study permit, “To” date should be the date of your current study permit expiration date. 
• COMING INTO CANADA:
  • Question 1: Place: should be the airport that you first landed in Canada.
  • Question 4: Study Permit document number: Black bolded number starting with one letter at top right of your study permit.    
• DETAILS OF INTENDED WORK IN CANADA:
  • Question 1: Select ‘Post-Graduation Work Permit’ from the list.
  • By choosing ‘Post-Graduation Work Permit’ for Question 1, you can leave Questions 2 to 8 blank.  
• EDUCATION: As a current UM student, you should select ‘Yes’ to this question. Please indicate your highest level of post-secondary education, this could be either the details of the recent UM degree program you completed, or a higher level of education you have completed elsewhere. 
• EMPLOYMENT: 
  • Question 1: current activity/occupation is “Student”.
  • If you need more space for previous activity/occupation, include details in a letter of explanation and submit it with your application, under “Client Information”.     
• BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
  • Be truthful and provide honest answers. 
  • Question 2: a) If you have studied or worked without a valid study permit or work permit, you need to list details and explanation. b) If you were ever refused any visa, or admission to Canada or any other country, you need to report it with briefly explanation. c) Choose “yes”, provide brief information or your previous IRCC applications such as study permit (extension) application(s).    
• SIGNATURE: instruction can be found here.
   

Please see the “What to include (UM documentation)” section of this webpage for details on which official documents from the UM you need to request and upload with your application. If you need to include more than one document for a requirement in your document checklist, you would need to merge the documents into one file to upload. The file size limit when applying through the IRCC Secure Account is 4 MB.

Ensure to save the payment receipt and to take a screenshot of the confirmation page after you submit your completed application.