Hold a work permit? Since 4 September 2026 you can take a course of six months or less without a study permit.
What it means →
Spousal open work permit — document checklist
Prepared by CHK Immigration Services Inc. · government fee $255 incl. open holder fee
Spousal open work permit — document checklist
Every document an officer will look for, grouped in the order they are read. The ones marked refusal risk are where these applications actually fail — a complete file is not the same as a persuasive one.
10 documents 8 where refusals happen Government fee $255 incl. open holder fee
Identity
Who is this person, and is the story consistent?Where files fail here: Names, dates or passport details that disagree across documents.
Proof of your own status in Canada
Valid status, maintained status, or eligibility for restoration. Ninety-one days out of status and no route here can rescue you.
Marriage certificate, or the common-law declaration
On the worker and student routes a common-law claim gets harder scrutiny than a marriage, because there is no PR file corroborating the cohabitation.
Family information form and photo
Cross-checked line by line against the sponsorship or the principal’s file.
Valid passport
The permit cannot be issued past it, whatever you are otherwise entitled to.
Eligibility
Do they meet this program's bar, on paper?Where files fail here: A requirement evidenced by assertion instead of a document.
Work out which of the two routes you are on
They are different rules under different instruments and people conflate them constantly. Inland family class: your spouse is sponsoring you for PR from within Canada. Family of a worker or student: your spouse holds a work or study permit. Read the row that matches you and ignore the other.
Inland route — acknowledgement of receipt for the PR application
The permit hangs off an accepted-for-processing PR file. You can apply before the acknowledgement only if your current status expires within two weeks.
Worker route — employer letter giving occupation, duties and TEER
The make-or-break document since January 2025. The officer maps the described duties to a NOC code and checks it against the eligible list: TEER 0 and 1, or a specific subset of TEER 2 and 3. A letter with a job title and no duties cannot be assessed.
Worker route — count the remaining validity carefully
Your spouse’s permit generally needs at least 16 months left as at the day IRCC receives your application, not the day you start preparing. Six months is enough if they are on a PR pathway. Two 2026 openings waive it entirely: a Significant Investment Project in British Columbia (code SIPSPOUSEBC) and Quebec-recruited health professionals (code CONJOINTSANTEQC) — leave the code out and the file is routed to the stream it fails.
Student route — proof the programme qualifies
Only a master’s of 16 months or longer, a doctorate, or one of a listed set of professional degrees. A twelve-month master’s fails outright. The permit runs for the same period as the study permit.
Intent
Does the purpose hold together, and will they comply?Where files fail here: A plan that doesn't match the applicant's history or finances.
Inland route — proof you share an address with your sponsor
Co-residence is an express condition of the public policy, not soft evidence. An address mismatch is a clean refusal ground here in a way it is not on other permits.
General information, not legal advice. This checklist is prepared by CHK Immigration Services Inc. and was checked against the Government of Canada’s published requirements on the date shown. Requirements change and vary by case, and IRCC generates a personalised document list for many applications — where that list or canada.ca differs from this document, they govern.
Lead times are planning estimates, not guarantees. Police certificates and credential assessments in particular vary widely by country and provider. IRCC makes all final decisions.
CHK Immigration Services Inc. is an immigration consultancy with offices in Brampton and London, Ontario. Our consultants are regulated by the College of Immigration and Citizenship Consultants (CICC). Nothing in this document creates a client–consultant relationship.
Current version: https://chkimmigration.ca/checklists/sowp
Checked against the official IRCC page for this application in September 2026. Where that page disagrees with anything here, it wins. General information, not legal advice. Lead times are planning estimates, not guarantees — police certificates and credential assessments in particular vary widely by country and provider. IRCC also generates a personalised checklist for many applications, and that list governs. IRCC makes all final decisions.
Having the documents is not the same as having a persuasive file.
Every item above can be present and correct and the application can still be refused — on intent, on a date that does not reconcile, or on a lead time that ran out. A licensed consultant reads it the way an officer will.
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Send a few details. A licensed RCIC reads your profile personally, then replies with the routes that genuinely fit, the ones that do not, and the consultation fee and next available times.
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CHK Immigration Services — Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (CICC). Offices in Brampton and London, Ontario. Submitting this form does not create a client–consultant relationship; IRCC makes all final decisions.