Work Permit

With Canada adjusting its immigration targets and reducing its temporary resident population, many individuals with expiring work permits are exploring ways to stay legally. One option is applying for a Visitor Record (VR), which extends your legal stay but does not permit work or study.

Changing jobs in Canada as a temporary foreign worker is possible, but it must be done within the rules set by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to protect your legal status.

A criminal record can hinder your plans to work in Canada, however, you may have options to overcome inadmissibility.

If you have a criminal record and do not address inadmissibility before you apply for a Canadian work permit, you risk being refused entry to Canada.

Overall, the economic outlooks show strong employment growth over the next few years with many opportunities for newcomers.

At the beginning of the pandemic, immigrants who had landed in the last five years experienced higher unemployment levels than Canadian-born workers.

Immigration is crucial for Canada's economy, with immigrants significantly represented across key sectors. They comprise over 36% in accommodation and food services, nearly 38% in transportation, and over 34% in professional services.

As of mid-March, IRCC reports a backlog of 1,844,424 persons across all lines of business.
IRCC reports there are 1.84 million people waiting on decisions in its inventory as of mid-March.

The backlog has progressed as follows since summer 2021:

• March 15 and 17, 2022: 1,844,424 persons
• February 1, 2022: 1,815,628 persons
• December 15, 2021: 1,813,144 persons
• October 27, 2021: 1,792,404 persons
• July 6, 2021: 1,447,474 persons

The data represents the number of persons currently awaiting processing by IRCC.
Permanent residence inventory data is from March 15 and temporary residence inventory data is from March 17. The reason for the difference is when IRCC provided the March 15 temporary residence data initially, the “visitor record” data was missing. On March 17 temporary residence data was provided when requested.

Immigration reductions are putting pressure on the food service sector across Atlantic Canada, which includes Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland and Labrador. Just as the tourism season begins, restaurants in these provinces are warning of serious staffing challenges.

Work permits are among five priorities on IRCC's $85 million budget this year
The minister had previously announced that service standards for work permits, study permits, proof of citizenship, and permanent residence card renewals would return to normal by the end of 2022.

The new measures include:

Engineers are among the most sought-after professionals in Canada's workforce. Both federal and provincial immigration departments have declared their need for various kinds of engineers across Canada. As such engineers have an abundant number of opportunities to immigrate to the country.

A new Statistics Canada report says Canada is aging and it will continue to depend on high immigration levels to renew its population.

Applicants with French language test result of CLB 7 or B2 level who have minimum of 6 months work experience in the last 3 years regardless of any specific occupations my apply for Permanent residency under the Express Entry program.

A recent report indicates a 4.4% rise in immigrants with bachelor's degrees working in jobs that match their qualifications between 2016 and 2021. Overqualification among recent immigrants decreased from 31.1% in 2016 to 26.7% in 2021.

More than 700 Indian students are facing deportation from Canada after finding that their educational institution’s admission offer letters were fake. The fraud was discovered when the students applied for permanent residency in Canada. The Canadian Border Service Agency (CBSA) examined the documents based on which their visas were issued and found that these letters were fake.

IRCC announced some significant changes to the International Experience Canada program today, including an increase in applicant capacity and a program open date for 2023.

IRCC backlog continues to rise
As of August 31, 2025, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) had 958,850 applications in its backlog. This is up from 901,700 in July, marking another consecutive monthly increase.

Permanent residence

Distance learning measures have been extended to August 31st, 2023.

Canada is planning a new immigration stream aimed at addressing labour shortages in agriculture and fish processing. According to IRCC’s 2025–2026 Departmental Plan, this upcoming stream will include a sector-specific work permit and could involve expanded agreements with partner countries to simplify recruitment.

As of December 15,2021 to February 2022 in the period of 2 months IRCC finalized 3583 applications of the economic class applicants for more than 25 different economic immigration programs, as follow: