Citizenship and Immigration Canada
www.cic.gc.ca
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Working temporarily in Canada: Extending your stay
A work permit allows you to work in Canada temporarily.
If you want to stay in Canada for any of the following reasons after your work permit expires, you must apply to do so:
- your job is extended or changes
- you are offered a different job in Canada
- you want to live and work in Canada permanently
- you leave Canada and then want to re-enter
If you have applied to extend your status and an emergency situation requires you to travel outside Canada before you get your new permit, please contact the Call Center to ensure you will be able to return to Canada.
Note: if you are a temporary foreign worker in Canada who has a work permit under the Pilot Project for Occupations Requiring Lower Levels of Formal Training (NOC C and D), and you want to extend your stay, please see Pilot Project for Occupations Requiring Lower Levels of Formal Training (NOC C and D) under the Related Links section at the bottom of this page.
Your job is extended or changes
If your job is extended or changes, you must apply to extend or change the conditions of your existing work permit before it expires.
The package includes the application guide and all the forms you need to fill out. Download and print the application package.
You are offered a different job in Canada
If you are offered a different job in Canada, you must apply for a new work permit.
Do not start your new job without a new work permit.
The package includes the application guide and all the forms you need to fill out. Download and print the application package.
You want to live and work in Canada permanently
A work permit lets you work in Canada temporarily.
If you want to stay in Canada permanently, you must qualify under one of the permanent resident categories, such as the skilled worker category. Information about coming to Canada as a skilled worker can be found in the Related Links section at the bottom of this page.
You leave Canada and then want to re‑enter
If you leave Canada after working here and then want to come back here to work, you must have a valid passport or travel document and a valid work permit.
If you are a citizen of a country that requires a temporary resident visa to travel to Canada, you must also have a valid entry visa to return, unless you are returning to Canada from the United States, Greenland or Saint-Pierre et Miquelon and the period initially authorized for your entry or any extension to it, as a visitor, student or worker has not expired.
Possession of these documents does not guarantee that you will be allowed back into Canada. You must show that you meet all the requirements of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations before you will be allowed to re-enter Canada.
Note for citizens and permanent residents of the United States:
If you are a citizen of the United States, you do not need a passport
or travel document to enter or return to Canada.
If you are a permanent
resident of the United States, you do not need a passport or travel document
if you enter or return to Canada from the United States, Greenland or
Saint-Pierre et-Miquelon.
However, both citizens and permanent residents
of the United States must provide documentary proof of citizenship or
permanent residence, such as a national identity card or an alien registration
card.
