News

16 Jan 2025

Canada

Canada: Spousal Open Work Permit (SOWP) Changes

Effective January 21, 2025, the following changes will take place to Spousal Open Work Permits (SOWPs) for spouses of foreign workers and international students in Canada:

Foreign Workers:
SOWPs will be restricted to spouses of foreign workers employed in the following circumstances:

Required Foreign Worker Skill Level:
1.  TEER 0 or 1 occupations (managerial and professional occupations);

2.  Select TEER 2 or 3 occupations in sectors with labor shortages or identified as government priority occupations, including occupations in the natural and applied sciences, construction, healthcare, natural resources, education, sports and military sectors. A complete list of qualifying occupations will be available on January 21, 2025.

The general list of the TEER categories can be found here.

Required Duration of Foreign Worker’s Work Permit:
The foreign worker must have at least 16 months remaining on their work permit at the time the spouse applies for the SOWP.

 

International Students:
Open Work Permits will be restricted to spouses of international students who are enrolled in the following programs:

  • Master’s degree programs that are 16 months or longer;
  • Doctoral programs; or
  • Select specialty degree programs, for example Law, Engineering, or Nursing.

The following categories are exempt from the application of these restrictions:

  • Spouses of workers covered by Fee-Trade Agreements (example; the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement); and
  • Those transitioning to permanent residence with an application for permanent residence in process (must have received an invite to apply (ITA) and submitted their application).
  • Open Work Permits that were approved under the previous measures and have not expired will remain valid. In situations where students may need more time to complete their program or where family members received a shorter work permit than the principal applicant, in-Canada family members (including spouses and dependent children) can apply to renew their work permit as long as:
      • they are applying under the same criteria as the current work permit, and
      • the requested duration of the renewal matches that of the existing study or work permit of the principal applicant

NOTE: Children of foreign workers are no longer able to obtain work permits.

As of January 15, 2025, IRCC has confirmed that it will honor existing applications that have been submitted prior to January 21, 2025.

We will be providing more updates on January 21st once the lists from the IRCC are released, as we understand that this will have a broad impact on many temporary foreign workers already employed in Canada and on those looking to relocate to Canada. For more information, please contact the T&S team at [email protected].

© 2022 Tafapolsky & Smith LLP. All rights reserved.
The content above is provided for informational purposes only. It should not be construed as legal advice on any subject matter. Use of this information does not create an attorney-client relationship. 

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Lisa Atkins

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