What this page covers and what the study page covers
This is the permit. How to get it, how long it runs, whether you can work while you wait, and what happens when it is gone. The choices that decide whether a permit is available at all are made years earlier, when you choose an institution and a program, and those are set out on the study page. Read that one first if you have not yet enrolled.
- Four general requirements, and two more depending on your program. A completed program of at least eight months at an eligible institution, full time status in each semester, an application within 180 days of confirmation that you completed, and a study permit valid at some point during those 180 days. Then a language requirement, and for most non degree programs a field of study requirement.
- The program has to be eligible, not just the school. The department states that graduating from a designated learning institution does not automatically make you eligible and directs you to the institution list to check which schools have eligible programs. This is the single most common reason a graduate finds there is no permit at the end. How to check before you enrol.
- It is available once in a lifetime. Not once per credential. A second degree does not produce a second permit. That makes the first one the permit to plan around rather than the first thing to use up, and it changes the order in which the whole decision should be taken.
- The window is short and it depends on a permit that may already be expiring. One hundred and eighty days from confirmation that you completed, and your study permit must have been valid at some point inside that period. If it expires while you wait for marks there are two clean options and one expensive one.
- It is an open work permit. No employer, no offer of employment, no compliance fee. The open work permit holder fee of $100 is payable by you as part of the $255 total, and under section 303.2(3) of the Regulations it is remitted and must be repaid to you if the permit is refused, or if you withdraw and request a remission before the permit issues. The $155 processing fee is not. What an open work permit does and does not allow.
- It is the usual way into permanent residence, and only the permit counts. Work done while you were a full time student does not build the Canadian experience the federal programs ask for, including a co-op placement. The clock effectively starts when this permit does. The Canadian Experience Class.
The requirements, by what you graduated from
| What you graduated from | Language | Field of study |
|---|---|---|
| A bachelor's, master's or doctoral degree | Level 7 in all four abilities, in English or in French | Does not apply |
| Any other university program | Level 7 in all four abilities | Applies, if you submitted your study permit application on or after 1 November 2024 |
| Any other college, polytechnic or non university program | Level 5 in all four abilities | Applies, if you submitted your study permit application on or after 1 November 2024 |
| An eligible flight school | Does not apply | Does not apply |
| Any of the above, where you applied for the permit before 1 November 2024 | Does not apply | Does not apply |
A flight school graduate must also meet one of two further conditions, being that they completed flight training at a designated learning institution training centre and now hold a Canadian commercial pilot's licence, or that they hold or are obtaining an instructor's rating and have a job offer as a flight instructor from such a centre. The exemption is conditional rather than automatic. The language levels are Canadian Language Benchmarks in English and Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadiens in French.
The line that catches people is the second row. A non degree program at a university, for example a graduate certificate, sits at the higher language level and also carries the field of study requirement. It is neither a degree nor a college program, and it is the combination people do not expect.
- The field of study list is frozen for 2026. The department states that for 2026 it will not add or remove any eligible fields of study. That is the one piece of planning certainty this route currently offers. Eligibility runs by a six digit Classification of Instructional Programs code based on the 2021 Canadian edition, and the test is met if the code was on the list either when you applied for the study permit or when you apply for this permit.
- The published exclusions, in full. Having already received one of these permits. English or French as a second language. General interest or self improvement courses. A non credit program, unless it is flight school. Funding from Global Affairs Canada requiring you to return home. Completing more than half the program by distance learning. A program at a non Canadian institution located in Canada. And any course or program at an institution that is not eligible for this permit, which expressly includes a program delivered on behalf of an eligible institution under a curriculum licensing agreement.
- The public private partnership exclusion has two dated exceptions. Within the same province, a program at a private college delivered on behalf of a public college can still support a permit if you began it on or before 15 May 2024. Across provinces, only if you began on or before 31 January 2023. After those dates you are not eligible. These arrangements are marketed hard and this is the most common way a student ends up with a credential and no permit behind it.
- Distance learning both shortens the permit and, past a point, removes it. Completing more than half a program by distance learning, meaning online courses, e-learning or correspondence, makes you ineligible altogether. Below that line the length rules apply, and they turn on your lock in date, which is the earlier of your program start date and the date the study permit application was received. For a lock in date on or after 1 September 2024 at least half the program must be completed in class within Canada, and time spent studying outside Canada is deducted from the length. For a lock in date between 1 September 2022 and 31 August 2024 at least half must be completed within Canada, online or in class.
- Two periods never count towards the length, whatever your lock in date. Time spent studying online from outside Canada after 31 August 2024. And time spent studying before the department received your study permit application.
- An authorised leave of up to 150 days can be survivable. An unauthorised leave may cost you the permit, where the department finds you did not meet the conditions of your study permit by taking it. There are cases where a leave of up to 150 days authorised by your institution is compatible with those conditions, and you must provide proof that the institution authorised it when you apply.
- Transfers and overseas components have their own rules. If you transferred between designated learning institutions the total must still be at least eight months. If you transferred from a non designated institution only the time at the designated one counts, and it must be at least eight months. Where a Canadian program has an overseas component you may still be eligible if you earn a Canadian credit for it, but the permit will be valid only for the length of time you studied in Canada.
How long a permit you get
| Your study program | Permit length |
|---|---|
| At least eight months, or 900 hours for a Quebec credential, and under two years | Up to the same length as the program. The department's example is a nine month program giving up to nine months |
| Two years or more | Up to three years |
| A master's degree of at least eight months, since 15 February 2024 | Three years, even where the program was shorter than two years. The department states expressly that this does not apply to certificate or diploma programs |
| Completed early, in an accelerated format | Possibly the full normal length of the program rather than the time you took. The department's example is a one year program finished in eight months giving a permit of up to one year |
| More than one eligible program | The lengths can be combined, provided each program was eligible and each was at least eight months. Where they carry different language thresholds you must meet the higher one |
| Any of the above, with a passport expiring sooner | The passport governs. The permit is issued only to the passport expiry, and a paper extension is available afterwards once you hold a passport covering the full period |
Distance learning interacts with all of this. Time studying online from outside Canada after 31 August 2024 never counts towards the length, whatever your lock in date, and for a lock in date on or after 1 September 2024 time studied outside Canada is deducted from the length. Separately, completing more than half a program by distance learning is a bar on eligibility rather than a reduction.
The window, and what to do if your permit is expiring
Verified 21 August 2026 against four government pages
One hundred and eighty days, and the pages describe the start date three different ways
The eligibility page says you must apply within 180 days of confirmation that you completed your program of study. The application page says you have up to 180 days after you graduate. The department's help centre and the student application guide both say 180 days after your school issues your final marks, and the guide adds that the confirmation could be a degree, a diploma, a transcript or an official letter from your school.
Those are not necessarily the same date, and the difference can be weeks. We plan from the earliest of them, being the date your institution first confirms in writing that you have completed, rather than from the conferral of the credential. If your dates are close to the edge, that is worth advice rather than a guess.
We could not source whether these are calendar or business days, on any of the four pages. We treat them as calendar days because nothing in the material suggests otherwise, and we say so rather than assert it. The separate requirement is that your study permit must have been valid at some point during those 180 days.
| Your situation | What to do |
|---|---|
| Your study permit is still valid | Apply now. This is also the only situation in which you can work full time while the application is decided, because that concession requires a study permit that had not expired at the time you submitted |
| Your study permit will expire before your marks arrive, and you are in Canada | The department gives two options. Apply for a visitor record to stay in Canada longer, or leave Canada and apply for the permit from outside. Both are cheaper and cleaner than the third option below |
| Your study permit has already expired and you are still in Canada | You have up to 90 days after the expiry to apply for the permit and restore your status as a student together. You pay the $255 permit fee and the restoration fee, and because of a system limitation the restoration fee is paid separately online with the receipt attached to the permit application. You cannot work until the permit is approved. Past 90 days you must leave Canada |
| You have left Canada | You may apply from outside, provided you are still inside the 180 days and your study permit was valid at some point within them. Where you apply from outside, a visitor visa or an electronic travel authorisation is issued with the approval. Where you apply from inside Canada a new visitor visa is not issued, so if yours has expired and you intend to travel you must apply for it separately |
We could not source whether the 90 day restoration window is counted in calendar or business days either.
- Working while you wait has three conditions and all must hold. You had a valid study permit, meaning one that had not expired, at the time you submitted the application. You completed your program of study. And you were eligible to work off campus without a work permit while studying and did not work more hours than you were allowed. If all three hold you may work full time until a decision is made. If any fails, you must wait, and the department puts it bluntly that it is illegal to work in Canada without authorisation.
- Leaving Canada does not break it. The department states that if you leave and re-enter after applying, you can still work full time while you wait. That is a departure from the position for most other maintained status situations, and it is worth knowing precisely because the general rule is the opposite.
- A refusal stops the work the same day. If the permit is refused you must stop working the day you are notified.
- You need a valid visa or authorisation to come back. A valid post graduation work permit does not by itself get you back into Canada. If you travel you must hold a valid visitor visa or electronic travel authorisation, and without one you may not be allowed to return.
- Your spouse can apply, but the timing is exact. A spouse or partner may apply after you have submitted this application, and may apply online with you. But the department must have approved your permit before their application is processed, and their application may be refused if no decision has been made on yours by then. A spouse cannot be issued a permit while you are still working without a permit in the transition period. The spousal open work permit.
Once in a lifetime, and what is left afterwards
The department lists having already received one of these permits first among the reasons you are not eligible for another. Further study does not produce a second one, however long or however advanced. That reverses the order in which this decision is usually taken.
- An employer supported permit through an assessment. Where an employer obtains a labour market impact assessment, a permit can follow on its own footing rather than on the strength of your studies. It ties you to that employer and that position. What the assessment route asks for.
- A permit that needs no assessment at all. Sections 204 to 208 cover a great many situations, including intra company transfers, the free trade agreement categories, francophone mobility, significant benefit, and charitable and religious work. Nationality and treaty often matter more here than the job does. The routes with no assessment.
- Francophone mobility, if you have the French. Level 5 in speaking and listening, an offer outside Quebec in almost any occupation, and the language of work does not have to be French. It is the most overlooked route on this list. How it works.
- Permanent residence directly, without more Canadian experience. The federal programs count foreign work experience as well as Canadian, so a graduate with a career behind them abroad is not starting from nothing. How the federal pool works.
- A provincial nomination. Several provinces run streams aimed at people already working or studying in the province, and a nomination adds six hundred points to a federal score on the enhanced streams. A nominee normally uses exemption code T13 for the work permit that bridges the gap.
- A family relationship, if one exists. Sponsorship is not a fallback for a study plan, but if a spouse, partner or parent is Canadian it is an entirely separate route with no score attached. What family sponsorship covers.
- Studying again, with clear eyes. There is no bar on further study and it can be worth doing for its own sake. What it will not produce is a second permit of this kind, so it should not be sold to you as an immigration step.
Requirements checker
A structured way to see where you stand against the published criteria. It returns an indication only, not an eligibility decision, not legal advice, and not a prediction that you will be invited.
Your situation
Nothing you enter leaves your browser.
An indication against the published requirements only, not an eligibility decision, not legal advice and not a prediction of approval. It does not test whether your particular program is eligible, which is a property of the program rather than of the institution and must be checked against the institution list, nor whether your particular six digit code is on the eligible list, which must be checked against the published list for your own code. It does not test the public private partnership exclusion, the lock in date rules for distance learning, or an authorised leave, all of which turn on the facts of the program you enrolled in. Verified 21 August 2026 against canada.ca.