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Extensions & status · Maintained status

Maintained status: stay, and keep working.

If you applied for a new permit before your current one expired, you can usually stay in Canada and keep the same conditions until IRCC decides. Here is exactly what that covers, and what ends it.

Check my dates ↓How it works
Work gloves, a yellow hard hat, a sealed envelope and a navy passport on a bench by a winter window
  1. ValidYour permit has not expired. Apply for the next one before it does.
  2. Maintained statusYou applied in time. Stay, and keep the same conditions, until IRCC decides.
  3. Restoration windowStatus ended. You have 90 days to apply to restore it, and cannot work or study.
  4. Out of statusMore than 90 days have passed. Restoration is no longer open.

The short answer

Maintained status, once called implied status, applies when IRCC receives your application to extend or change your stay before your permit expires. You may stay in Canada, and keep working or studying under the same conditions as your expiring permit, until IRCC decides. It ends if you leave Canada, and a refusal ends your status that day.

Checked against IRCC sources · October 25, 2026

What is maintained status?

It is the status you keep after your permit’s expiry date, as long as IRCC received your application for an extension or a new permit before that date.

You remain a temporary resident in Canada until IRCC decides. The Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations set this out in section 183(5). An online application counts if it is submitted before midnight UTC on the expiry day; IRCC recommends applying at least 30 days ahead.

Can I keep working on maintained status?

Yes, under the same conditions as your expired work permit: the same employer, job and location if your permit named them. Open work permit holders can still change employers and jobs.

  • You must have applied for a new work permit before your current one expired. If you applied for a study permit or a visitor record instead, you can only work until your current work permit expires.
  • You must stay in Canada.
  • You cannot start work that your old permit did not allow until the new permit is approved.

Can I keep studying on maintained status?

Yes. If you applied to extend your study permit before it expired and you stay in Canada, you may keep studying under the same conditions until IRCC decides.

What happens if I leave Canada?

Your maintained status ends when you leave Canada, and so does your permission to keep working or studying while you wait.

If you return while the application is still pending, you may be let in as a visitor, but you cannot work or study until the new permit is approved. Get advice before you travel.

What if my application is refused?

Your maintained status lasts until the day of the decision. From the date of the refusal, you have 90 days to apply to restore your status, and you must stop working or studying.

If IRCC returns your application as incomplete, it is treated as never submitted: you lose maintained status, and the 90 days count from your permit’s original expiry date. See restoration of status.

Can I apply again while I wait?

It depends on when you filed the second one. IRCC processes both applications.

  • Filed before your original permit expired: if the first is refused, you stay on maintained status while the second is processed.
  • Filed after your original permit expired: you do not have maintained status while it is processed, so a refusal of the first ends your status.

Speak to an RCIC before you file another application.

How do I prove maintained status to my employer?

If you applied online for a work permit extension, IRCC sends a letter confirming you can keep working while you wait. Its date runs 365 days from receipt, but you may keep working past that date until IRCC decides.

PGWP holders do not receive this letter. Keep your submission confirmation and acknowledgement of receipt, together with your expired permit, as proof that you applied in time.

Your dates

Are you on maintained status?

Enter your permit’s expiry date and where your application stands. The planner shows your status today and what to do next.

1 · The permit you hold (or last held)
2 · Its expiry date
3 · Have you applied for a new permit or an extension?
4 · What else applies to you?

Tick any that are true. These decide which options the planner shows.

A planning guide built only from the IRCC rules on this page, not legal advice. Nothing you enter is sent anywhere.

Your status today

Waiting for a date

Enter your permit’s expiry date to see where you stand.

The planner shows your status today, the deadlines that apply to you, and the options worth checking, in order.

    Book a consultation → Send this to us on WhatsApp

    Rules checked against IRCC on October 25, 2026.

    Questions

    More on maintained status.

    Is maintained status the same as implied status?
    Yes. Implied status is the older name. IRCC now calls it maintained status; the rule is the same.
    Does it matter which permit I applied for?
    For your stay, no: any application to extend or change your status, received before your permit expired, keeps you on maintained status. For work, yes: you keep working only if you applied for a work permit. If you applied for a study permit or a visitor record, your work stops on your work permit's expiry date.
    Can a PGWP holder use maintained status?
    Yes, if they applied for another work permit before the PGWP expired, such as a bridging open work permit or an employer-specific permit, and stay in Canada. A PGWP itself cannot be extended, except when it was cut short by a passport expiry.
    How long does maintained status last?
    Until IRCC decides on the application, however long that takes, as long as you stay in Canada.
    What if I withdraw my application?
    Your authorized stay ends on the date IRCC registers the withdrawal.

    Checked against

    Official sources, October 2026.

    Talk to an RCIC

    Waiting on IRCC and unsure where you stand?

    Send us your expiry date and your application date. A licensed RCIC will confirm your status and whether you can keep working.

    Book a consultation →WhatsApp us

    eligibility review

    Find out where you actually stand.

    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.

    1. 01Read personally by a CICC-licensed consultant
    2. 02A written shortlist of the programs you qualify for
    3. 03Fee-based; the fee and times come by reply

    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. Prefer to talk first? Call 647-948-7200 or book a paid consultation.