Changing jobs during an Atlantic Immigration Program application: three permissions, not one
Under the AIP your job offer stays part of your PR application until a decision is made. A promotion, a new employer or a sale of the business affects three separate things: the PR file, the provincial endorsement and your work permit. What each one needs, and the order to deal with them in.
Most permanent residence programs look at your job offer once, when you apply. The Atlantic Immigration Program keeps looking at it until IRCC makes a decision. Your offer from a designated employer in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island or Newfoundland and Labrador, and the province’s endorsement of that offer, are part of the application for as long as it is in processing, and with processing times well over a year, a lot can change in that time.
A promotion, a move to another employer or a sale of the business does not end an AIP application. It does mean you have to deal with three separate permissions, held by different people, and none of them updates the others:
- The permanent residence file, held by IRCC.
- The endorsement, held by the Atlantic province.
- The work permit, a separate IRCC authorization tied to a specific employer.
Most problems happen when someone fixes one of these and assumes the other two follow.
Permission one: the PR file must be told, in writing
IRCC’s program delivery instructions for the AIP are direct: applicants must promptly inform IRCC in writing of any change in circumstances, through the IRCC web form. A phone call, an email to the province or telling your employer does not count.
What you have to send depends on what changed:
| What changed | What goes to IRCC |
|---|---|
| Same employer, new position, NOC code, TEER level or terms (wage, duties, hours, conditions) | Updated provincial endorsement certificate and updated Offer of Employment (IMM 0157), through the web form |
| Same employer, job title only | Report it. An officer may ask for an updated endorsement certificate |
| A different designated employer | Updated endorsement certificate and IMM 0157 from the new employer, obtained immediately, through the web form |
| Family composition (marriage, a new child) | Written notice through the web form. IRCC says no new or amended endorsement is needed |
The good news is that you do not start over. IRCC says a new AIP application is not necessary: the officer records the change in the case management system and updates the existing file, and may contact the province to confirm the details.
The 90-day hold. If you report a change without the supporting documents, the instructions tell officers to put the application on hold for 90 days and send a procedural fairness letter asking for them. If they are not provided, the application should be refused. The 90 days run from IRCC’s side of the process, not from the day you changed jobs. Do not treat them as time to delay reporting, and do not count on the full 90 days to get an endorsement out of a busy provincial office. Start with the province before you file the web form.
Permission two: the endorsement belongs to the province
The endorsement is the province confirming that a particular designated employer, a particular job and your settlement plan fit the program. When the job changes, only the province can update it, and it is not obliged to.
The new employer must already be designated. This is the first thing to check, before you resign anywhere. An employer who is not designated cannot simply sign an IMM 0157 for you. In New Brunswick this matters right now: the province paused new employer designation applications on February 3, 2026 and on September 14 extended the pause to the end of 2026, so an employer there who is not already designated cannot become designated this year. See the AIP page for the current provincial notices.
A new TEER level can change your eligibility. AIP requirements are tied to the TEER level of the job offer, so a move up or down the ladder means checking them again against the new job:
- Language: at least CLB or NCLC 5 in all four abilities for a TEER 0 to 3 job, and CLB 4 for TEER 4. Test results must be less than two years old when you apply.
- Education: a Canadian one-year post-secondary credential (or a foreign equivalent with an ECA) for TEER 0 or 1; a Canadian high school diploma or equivalent for TEER 2, 3 or 4. ECAs are valid for five years.
- Job offer: full-time (at least 30 hours a week) and non-seasonal in every case. For TEER 0 to 3 it must last at least one year from the day you become a permanent resident; for TEER 4 it must be permanent, with no set end date.
- Work experience: IRCC assesses your qualifying experience against the TEER level of the offer, so a different TEER level can change which of your experience counts. International graduates of recognized Atlantic Canada institutions are exempt from the experience requirement.
A raise that moves you from a TEER 4 role into a TEER 3 supervisor role, for example, is good news for your career and can still create a language-score problem on your file.
Permission three: the work permit does not follow you
This is where people get hurt. An updated endorsement does not change your work permit, and neither does an updated PR file. IRCC’s instructions put it on the applicant: it is your responsibility to keep your work permit valid and to check whether a new one is needed.
Most AIP workers hold an employer-specific work permit issued under exemption code C18. It names your employer. To work for a different one you will normally need a new permit, and the C18 instructions say that needs:
- a new offer of employment submitted by the new designated employer through the Employer Portal, with the employer compliance fee paid again (an old offer number cannot be reused);
- an updated work permit support letter from the province, which is a separate document from the endorsement certificate.
Until that permit is issued, working for the new employer is unauthorized work, whatever the state of your PR file. That can lead to a refusal and to inadmissibility, and it is very hard to undo.
There is no bridging open work permit. Applicants in other PR programs can often get a bridging open work permit while their file is processed. IRCC says AIP and former Atlantic Immigration Pilot applicants are not eligible. The trade-off is that an AIP work permit, valid for up to two years each time, can be renewed as many times as needed until IRCC decides your PR application, provided the application has not been refused. Each renewal needs a fresh Employer Portal offer and compliance fee, so plan it months before the permit expires, not weeks.
Your spouse’s open work permit is separate. Family members of an AIP worker can be eligible for open work permits, whatever the TEER level of the principal applicant’s job. An open permit for your spouse or partner does not change any of your obligations: the reporting, the endorsement and your own work authorization stay with you.
When the business itself changes hands
Sometimes you do not change jobs; the employer changes owners. IRCC’s instructions leave the first decision to the province, which assesses the employer and its endorsements and decides whether to keep the designation. There are three possible outcomes:
- The employer stays designated: send IRCC an updated endorsement reflecting the changes and, where the business details changed, an updated IMM 0157.
- The employer loses its designation, but the province keeps supporting you: send an official letter from the province confirming its continued support. IRCC clarified this requirement in a minor update to the instructions on July 23, 2026.
- The province withdraws its support: the instructions say the application must be refused.
Whether the sale was a share sale or an asset sale matters for the work permit too. If the legal entity paying you is no longer the one named on your permit, you have a work authorization problem as well as an endorsement one. We wrote about the same issue under Ontario’s program in what happens to an OINP application when the business is sold.
Before you accept the new offer: the order that works
- Confirm the new employer is designated by the province where the job is, in writing.
- Find the NOC code and TEER level of the new job and check your language, education, experience and offer terms against it.
- Ask the province whether it will issue an updated endorsement and a work permit support letter, and how long that takes.
- Get the updated IMM 0157 from the employer, and have the employer submit the work permit offer through the Employer Portal.
- Report the change to IRCC through the web form with the updated endorsement and IMM 0157 attached, not afterwards.
- Apply for the new work permit, and do not start the new job until you are authorized to work there.
- Keep a file: copies of every web form, letter, offer and confirmation, with dates. If an officer asks later, you want to show what you reported and when.
Then resign from your current job. Doing it the other way round, resigning first and sorting out the paperwork later, can leave you without a job offer, and without work authorization, while the paperwork catches up.
What to do next
An AIP job change is manageable if it is done in the right order, and most of the trouble comes from doing it in the wrong one. Our team at the Brampton and London offices can review the new offer, the TEER level, your work permit and what the province will need, before you sign anything. Book a consultation and we’ll go through your file with you.
General information only, not legal advice. Based on IRCC’s AIP program delivery instructions: Other situations and the July 23, 2026 update, the C18 work permit instructions (modified August 25, 2026), and IRCC’s AIP job offer, language and education pages, checked October 19, 2026. New Brunswick designation pause: Immigration New Brunswick notices. Provincial rules change often; confirm current requirements with the province and on canada.ca. IRCC makes all final decisions.
