Canada: Details Released for Work Permit Restrictions for Family Members of Students and Temporary Foreign Workers

January 14, 2025

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Country / Territory

At a Glance

  • Effective January 21, 2025, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada will implement several work permit restrictions for family members of international students and foreign workers.
  • These changes were initially announced in September 2024 as part of broader measures to better manage the number of temporary residents entering and remaining in Canada.
  • More foreign nationals may face hurdles regarding study or work permit eligibility, which may also reduce flexibility for employers seeking to hire foreign nationals. 

The situation

Effective January 21, 2025, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada will implement several work permit restrictions for family members of international students and foreign workers previously announced in September 2024 as part of broader measures to better manage the number of temporary residents in the country.

Key changes that will come into effect on January 21, 2025 include:

Category

Details

Work permit restrictions for spouses of students
  • Family Open Work Permits (Family OWP - which typically allow holders to work anywhere and for most employers in Canada) will only be available to spouses of international students in master’s degree programs if the program is at least 16 months in duration, in addition to those in doctoral programs or select professional and eligible programs as currently eligible.
  • Currently, there is no condition on the program’s duration for master’s degree programs.  

Work permit restrictions for spouses of foreign nationals hired under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and International Mobility Program (IMP)
  • Family OWPs will only be available to spouses of foreign nationals hired under the TFWP and IMP who are in managerial or professional occupations. Specifically, Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities (TEER) level 0 and 1, in addition to TEER 2 and 3 occupations experiencing labor shortages in the natural and applied sciences, construction, health care, natural resources, education, sports and military sectors. Specific details will be available on January 21, 2025.
  • UPDATE January 21, 2025: The government has published the list of eligible occupations in TEER levels 2 and 3 where foreign workers can be employed for purposes of spousal work permit eligibility. These include a wide range of technologist and technician roles, occupations in the construction and manufacturing sectors, mining, construction, and health care, among others. The full list can be accessed here.
  • Currently, the work permit eligibility criteria for spouses of temporary foreign workers does not include restrictions on the foreign worker’s occupation/role outside of TEER 4 and 5 occupations.
  • Additionally, the foreign worker will be required to have at least 16 months remaining on their work permit when their spouse applies for the Family OWP, which is currently not required.

Work permit restrictions for children of students and temporary foreign workers.
  • Dependent children of international students and temporary foreign workers will no longer be eligible for a family OWP. Currently, working-age dependent children may be eligible to apply for work permits in Canada.
  • Impact on foreign nationals and employers. The new rules may compel spouses of international students and temporary foreign workers to seek alternative work pathways, potentially reducing Canada’s appeal as a destination for foreign nationals. Employers may face challenges filling non-managerial or non-professional roles, relying more on Canadian citizens or those with existing work authorization.
  • Impact on current OWP holders. Existing OWPs approved under current measures will remain valid until they expire. Family members in Canada can still apply to renew their work permits, provided they are applying under the same criteria as the current work permit and the requested renewal duration matches that of the principal applicant's existing study or work permit.
  • Unaffected spouses. Spouses of workers covered by free trade agreements and those transitioning to permanent residence are not affected by these changes.

In early 2024, the Canadian government introduced a "soft cap" on temporary residents, aiming to reduce their population over the next three years to address housing affordability and infrastructure pressures.

The restrictions above are part of a broader set of measures undertaken to achieve this goal. A number of other measures have been introduced with this same aim, including restrictions to the Low-Wage and High-Wage streams of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program and stricter requirements for Intra-Company Transfers, among others.

The government will continue to review immigration policies as the labor market and economic conditions evolve in Canada, especially with a federal election upcoming in the following months. Further restrictions can be expected should the government’s intended recalibration of the immigration programs not achieve its goals. 

We will continue to report on related developments.

This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen.

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