Employer-specific work permit? IRCC updated its officer instructions for checking that a job offer is genuine on 17 September 2026, LMIA or not.
Check your offerExtensions & status
One date decides your next year. Apply to extend before your permit expires and you generally keep working under maintained status. Apply after, and you are out of status, out of work, and into restoration.
Expiry planner
Enter your permit’s expiry date. The planner applies only the timing rules on this page: start two to three months ahead, file before expiry, and the 90-day restoration window if it has already passed.
A planning guide based on the general rules above, not legal advice. Nothing you enter here is sent anywhere.
Your timeline
Enter your expiry date to see your dates.
Apply to extend before your permit expires and you generally keep working under maintained status.
Quick answers
Straight answers to the questions we hear most, checked against IRCC on October 26, 2026.
IRCC says to apply at least 30 days before your permit expires. What protects you is that IRCC receives the application before the expiry date: you are then on maintained status and can stay, and keep working under the same conditions, until IRCC decides. Our extension checklist lists what to upload.
Source: IRCC →Yes, if you applied for a new work permit before your current one expired and you stay in Canada. You keep the same conditions, such as the same employer, until IRCC decides. If you applied for a different document, such as a visitor record, your work stops on the expiry date.
Source: IRCC →From $155 per person. An open work permit adds the $100 open work permit holder fee, for $255 in total. Biometrics, at $85, may also apply. Check your dates in the free permit expiry planner before you file.
Source: IRCC →If you did not apply before it expired, your status has ended and you must stop working. You may apply to restore your status within 90 days, with a new work permit, for $401.25, as long as you have not worked without authorization.
Source: IRCC →From the blogApplied to extend your work permit late? What now · Restoration of status or leaving Canada: how to choose
Maintained status
Apply to extend before your permit expires and you generally keep working under maintained status.
Documents, employer letters and any required LMIA all take time. If your extension needs a fresh LMIA, that process must start considerably earlier.
Filing on time is what preserves your right to work. Retain your submission confirmation: employers often need evidence of your continued authorization.
Because you applied before expiry, you may generally continue working under the same conditions while a decision is pending.
Same conditions, until a decision is made. Leaving Canada while on maintained status can end it: get advice before travelling mid-application.
Documents, employer letters and any required LMIA all take time. Aim to file two to three months ahead. If your permit has already expired, you may have only 90 days to restore status — treat that as urgent.
Who needs this
Extensions are routine when planned and painful when rushed. These are the situations we see most.
A straightforward extension where nothing has changed except the dates.
Most commonA change of employer on an employer-specific permit needs a new permit, not just an extension.
A bridging open work permit may be the better route than a standard extension.
Graduates transitioning to a PGWP rather than extending a study permit.
Restoration within 90 days may be possible, but you generally cannot work in the meantime.
UrgentHousehold permits that need to be renewed in a coordinated way.
The rules
How we help
Every plan starts at your expiry date and works backwards.
We set a filing date that leaves room for documents, employer letters and any LMIA.
Extension, new employer-specific permit, BOWP or PGWP — they are not interchangeable.
Employment letters, contracts and status history that agree with each other.
We file in time so maintained status carries you through the wait.
2026 update
IRCC used to hold these applications for 90 days and then decide them, LMIA or not. Its guidance updated on 28 October 2026 removes that limit: where an in-Canada extension qualifies for concurrent processing, IRCC now waits for the LMIA decision before deciding the work permit, rather than refusing it. Read the full breakdown →
Applicants in Canada who can show three things: their current work permit expires in two weeks or less, the employer has already submitted a complete LMIA application early enough, against ESDC’s published processing times, for a decision to be possible, and ESDC has not yet decided it. Where a Quebec CAQ is needed, IRCC waits for that too.
An LMIA filed just before the work permit application does not earn the hold. IRCC considers those requests only on an exceptional basis, so the employer’s timing matters as much as yours.
Follow IRCC’s application instructions so the code CPTS2026 appears in the intended occupation field. The code only helps IRCC track these files; it does not change the officer’s decision.
Without the hold, an extension filed before the LMIA arrived would simply be refused, pushing an otherwise sound application into restoration and a loss of work authorisation. The hold lets the two processes run in parallel.
You still have to file before your current permit expires — that is what preserves maintained status. And a work permit application received after the LMIA validity date has already passed is still refused, so the LMIA has to be live when you file.
Source: IRCC guidance on LMIA review, work permit validity and duration of employment (canada.ca), verified 28 October 2026.
Eligibility review
Send us your expiry date and a licensed RCIC will confirm which application you need and exactly when to file it.
Reviewed by a licensed RCIC, usually the same business day.
A licensed RCIC will review your details and reach out, usually the same business day.
Message us on WhatsApp →Good to know
The questions we hear most on this topic, answered by our consultants. The full list is in the Help Centre.
More questions on this topic are answered in the Help Centre.
Next on your path
The checklist, free tools and guides that usually come next.
Free, fee-exempt options exist. Your employer or partner is not asked.
Want to know where you stand on immigration? A licensed RCIC can review your situation in confidence. Call 647-948-7200 when it is safe, or book a private consultation.
