Post Graduate Work Permit (PGWP)

If you are an international student in Canada, you want to start planning for your post-graduation work permit if you want to stay in Canada, obtain worker status and ultimately work towards your permanent resident status.

A post-graduation work permit is an open work permit for individuals who have graduated from a Canadian school and want to work in Canada. An open work permit allows you to work for any company in Canada, anywhere in Canada in a full-time, part-time or self-employed capacity and will put you in a great position to be eligible for permanent residency through Express Entry under Canadian Experience Class (CEC).

Who can apply for a Post-Graduation Work Permit?

There are very specific requirements to meet to apply for a post-graduation work permit. You must have:

• Completed a Canadian academic, vocational or professional training program at an eligible institution of 8 months or longer, resulting in a degree, diploma, or certificate.
• Maintained full-time student status in Canada during each academic session of the program (other than your final academic session or a qualified leave from school).
• Received a transcript and an official letter from your school proving you have completed your program of study.
• Applied within 180 days of receiving written confirmation (such as an official letter or transcript) from the educational institution showing either (or whichever comes first):
  • your final marks are issued,
  • formal written notification of program completion is received.

Who is ineligible for a post-graduation work permit?

If you fall under any of the below categories, you are likely to be ineligible for a post-graduation work permit:

• Have previously been issued a post-graduation work permit.
• Received funding from Global Affairs Canada.
• Participated in the Government of Canada Awards Program funded by GAC.
• Obtained the Equal Opportunity Scholarship, Canada–Chile.
• Participated in the Canada–China Scholars’ Exchange Program
• Participated in the Organization of American States Fellowships Program.
• Completed most of your credits by distance learning.
• Completed general interest or self-improvement courses.
• Completed a program of study delivered by a non-Canadian institution located in Canada.
• Completed an English as a second language or French as a second language course/program.

What is an eligible institution?

For your studies in Canada to be legitimate, your program must have been earned at an eligible institution. These are called Designated Learning Institutions (DLI’s), which include:

• A public post-secondary institution. (college, trade/technical school, university)
• A degree program at a private institution authorized by a province to award degrees.

Where can I apply from?

• You can apply from inside or outside of Canada, depending on your circumstances.
• You can apply from within Canada if your study permit is still valid, or you have applied for visitor status before your study permit expires. If you have not submitted a post-grad work permit application and your study permit expires, you can apply to change or restore your status in Canada.
• You can also apply for your post-grad work permit from outside of Canada.

Post-graduation work permit fee?

You will incur government filing fees when submitting your application. They include:

Post Graduate Work Permit Fees:$ 255 CAD

Biometrics fee (if applicable): $85 per person, or $170 if including family.

Note: your spouse or common-law partner may be eligible for an open work permit.

Do I have to give biometrics?

There is a high chance you will have to submit your biometrics (fingerprints and photo) after you submit your application if you haven’t already. Biometrics are valid for 10 years, so if you had to provide them within that time, you may not.

Post-graduation work permit processing times

Processing times may vary,

By online application: 87 days

By paper application: 87 days

Can I work while my post-graduation work permit is being processed?

If you submit your post-graduation work permit application before your study permit expires, you can work full-time in Canada until a decision is made on your application if:

• You still have or had a valid study permit at the time you submitted your application.
• You have completed your program of study.
• You were eligible to work off-campus on your study permit and you didn’t work more hours than you were allowed.

Can I travel while my post-grad work permit is being processed?

You should be very careful when leaving Canada while your work permit is being processed because whether you can re-enter will depend on a few factors.

If you decide to leave, you can re-enter Canada if you hold a valid Temporary Resident Visa (also known as a visitor visa or TRV) or eTA (if traveling by air), depending on which country you are a citizen of. Some countries, called visa-exempt countries, do not require a TRV/visitor visa and so an eTA is sufficient if arriving by air, but if you are from a country that requires a visa to enter, you will need a TRV/visitor visa.

Note: a TRV or eTA are required for re-entering Canada even with a valid post-grad work permit, as the work permit is not a travel document.

If your post-grad work permit is approved:

• A TRV will be issued to you (if required for your home country) if you applied from outside of Canada, so you can travel to Canada without submitting an additional application.
• A TRV is not issued to you (if required from your home country) if you apply from inside Canada– you must submit a separate TRV application if your current TRV has expired, and you would like to travel outside Canada and return (although you should wait for your post-grad work permit approval before applying for your TRV)
• If you do not require a TRV, an eTA will be issued.

How long does a post-grad work permit last?

The length of your post-graduation work permit depends mostly on the length of the program you studied in, up to a maximum of three years. More specifically:

• Your program was between 8 and 24 months: Work permit will be for the length of the program.
• Your program was 2 years or longer: Work permit will be for 3 years.
• You completed 2 or more programs of 8 months or longer within 2 years: Work permit will be for the combined length of the programs. If they combine to equal 24 months or longer, the work permit will be for 3 years.

Regular breaks, such as Christmas/summer break, are generally included in the work permit length.

Always remember that work permits never extend beyond the validity of your passport. This means if you are eligible for a 3-years post-graduation work permit but your passport expires in 2 years, your work permit will only be granted for 2 years and you will have to apply for an extension when you receive your new passport.

Doctoral or Master’s degrees

If you completed a Master’s or doctoral program between 16-23 months and does not include regularly scheduled breaks, you may be given a work permit for 3 years.

Finishing your degree early

If you have accelerated studies and finish your program ahead of time, your work permit will be assessed based on the length of the entire program and not the time it took you to complete it (although it does not guarantee you will be granted the work permit for the full amount of time).

If your school has a strike

You will not be punished if there is a strike that affects your school, as you will be studying continually during any strike.

Distance/online/overseas studying.

Distance or online learning may make you ineligible for a post-grad work permit. More specifically, you will not be considered eligible if over 50% of the programs total courses are completed by distance learning.

If less than 50% of the program’s courses are completed by distance learning, you may be eligible. Your eligibility will be determined based on the length of the program and the credits earned in-class and distance-learning courses.

Note:any distance learning done outside of Canada will not be counted towards the length of your program.

If there is an overseas component to your program, you are still eligible if your degree is from an eligible Canadian institution. However, the time spent abroad may not be included in calculating the length of your work permit.

Documents required to apply for PGWP

You need the below documents to prove that you have successfully completed your study.

• A degree or diploma
• An official letter from your school
• An official transcript, or a copy of a transcript from your school‘s website.
• A valid passport