Three routes that people treat as one
Most couples arrive believing there is a single spousal work permit. There are three separate routes with different conditions, and two of them were narrowed on 21 January 2025 to the point where advice given before that date is simply wrong.
- Spouse of a worker, and it now depends on the occupation. Since 21 January 2025 only selected spouses qualify. The principal must be employed in any occupation at TEER 0 or 1 or in one of the select occupations at TEER 2 or 3, and their authorisation must run at least 16 months past the date the department receives the spouse's application. Dependent children are no longer eligible under this measure.
- Spouse of a student, and it now depends on the program. Since the same date, only the spouse of a student in a master's program of 16 months or longer, a doctoral program, one of a listed set of professional degrees, or one of a named list of provincial programs. An ordinary undergraduate degree does not qualify. A college program does not qualify.
- Spouse being sponsored in the family class, which is a different route entirely. Not tied to anyone's job. It runs off a permanent residence application that has been acknowledged as complete, a genuine relationship with the sponsor and living in Canada with them. What family sponsorship covers.
- A permanent residence application changes the worker route materially. Where the principal's work permit was issued because they applied under a listed economic program or pilot, the measure is more generous. Dependent children and grandchildren become eligible again, the occupation test disappears, and the validity requirement drops from 16 months to six. It is worth checking this before the ordinary worker route.
- A spousal permit does not create another one. A principal who holds a spousal open work permit cannot make their own spouse eligible under the worker measure. Nor can a spouse who holds or was approved for a spousal permit under a free trade agreement apply under the general code as well.
- It is an open permit with the standard exclusions. It lets the holder work for any employer in Canada except one on the list of employers who failed to comply with the conditions, and except one that regularly offers striptease, erotic dance, escort services or erotic massages. What an open work permit does and does not allow.
Spouse or partner of a worker
Much narrower than most people believe, and two separate things must be true about the principal
The occupation. The principal must be employed, or provisionally approved to be employed, in any occupation at TEER 0 or TEER 1, or in one of the select occupations at TEER 2 or TEER 3, at the time the spouse submits. The select list runs to 137 codes, being 105 at TEER 2 and 32 at TEER 3, across the natural and applied sciences, construction, health care, natural resources, education, sport and the military. Check the five digit code against the department's own list, because the code is what is tested rather than the job title.
The 16 months. The principal's work permit or authorisation to work must be valid for at least 16 months after the department receives the spouse's application. That is measured forward from receipt, which means a couple who leave it until late in the principal's permit cannot qualify however senior the job is. It is the single most common reason these applications fail.
The principal must also hold a valid work permit, or an approval for one not yet issued meaning a port of entry letter of introduction, or an authorisation to work without a permit, and must be living in Canada or planning to live in Canada while working. Dependent children and grandchildren are no longer eligible under this measure, though an in-Canada family member who already holds a permit under it may in some circumstances still extend.
One of these six measures closes on 31 December 2026
Fidera Law does not practise in Quebec immigration matters and this site does not cover Quebec programs. We name this measure because a couple in exactly this position would otherwise read the table below and conclude no route exists for them. It does, and it has a hard deadline.
IRCC announced on 5 June 2026 that once a temporary foreign worker is found eligible under the temporary public policy for prospective permanent residence candidates in Quebec, their spouse or common law partner can apply for an open work permit if they have valid temporary resident status in Canada, or if their status expired in the last 90 days. The spouse or common law partner must also be named on the principal applicant's demande de sélection permanente for the Programme de sélection des travailleurs qualifiés. The department states that the measure remains open until the end of 2026, and the public policy itself expires on 31 December 2026 and may be revoked at any time without prior notice.
The principal's side of this is an employer specific work permit route we set out on the page about working without an assessment. The spouse's eligibility runs through the principal, so the principal has to be found eligible first. IRCC's own eligibility page for open work permits for family members of foreign workers carries the requirements and the filing steps. For advice on it you need counsel who practises in Quebec.
| Which measure | Who is eligible | Occupation | How long the principal's permit must run |
|---|---|---|---|
| High skilled worker, not on a permanent residence pathway | Spouse or common-law partner only | Any TEER 0 or 1, or a select TEER 2 or 3 | 16 months after receipt |
| Worker who has applied under a listed economic permanent residence program or pilot | Spouse or partner, dependent children, and their dependent children | Not tested | 6 months after receipt |
| Worker on a pathway to permanent residence who has not applied yet | Spouse or partner, dependent children, and their dependent children | TEER 4 or 5, being a low skilled occupation | 6 months after receipt |
| Worker on a significant investment project agreement in British Columbia, since 23 March 2026 | Spouse only | Any TEER level | The 16 month requirement does not apply |
| Spouse of a foreign trained health care professional recruited by Quebec, since 25 May 2026 | Spouse only | Registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses, respiratory therapists and related occupations, and medical laboratory technologists | The 16 month requirement does not apply |
| Spouse or partner of a temporary worker who applied for permanent selection under the Programme de sélection des travailleurs qualifiés, from 5 June 2026 and closing 31 December 2026 | Spouse or common-law partner only, and they must be named on the principal's demande de sélection permanente. They need valid temporary resident status in Canada, or status that expired in the last 90 days | Not tested. The principal must first be found eligible under the public policy, which requires an employer specific permit for work in Quebec expiring on or before 31 December 2026 | Not applicable in the 16 month form. The gate is the principal's eligibility under the public policy |
The listed economic programs and pilots include the Agri-Food Pilot, the Atlantic Immigration Program, the Canadian Experience Class, the caregiver classes, the federal skilled trades and federal skilled worker classes, the Francophone Community Immigration Pilot, Quebec selection certificate holders who have applied for permanent residence, the Home Child Care Provider and Home Support Worker direct to permanent residence streams, the Provincial Nominee Program, the Rural and Northern Immigration Pilot, the Rural Community Immigration Pilot and the start-up business class. Under the two rural and francophone community pilots only dependent children qualify under this measure, because spouses have a separate permit under the pilots themselves.
- A free trade agreement may give the spouse their own route, and then it must be used. Several agreements carry a spousal code of their own, including the Canada European Union agreement and the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Where the spouse holds or was approved for a spousal permit under a treaty, they are not eligible under the general code. Where no treaty route exists or they are not eligible for it, the general measure remains open. Where the treaty variants differ.
- Part time work by the principal is not a bar. The department states there is no standard minimum number of hours, but the officer must be satisfied that the principal's wages or total funds will support the family in Canada and enable them to leave.
- The spouse must have status here, or be able to restore it. If they are in Canada they must hold valid temporary resident status, or have applied to extend before it expired meaning maintained status, or be eligible for restoration as a visitor, worker or student. The difference between extending and restoring.
- Where the principal is applying for a post graduation work permit, the sequence is exact. The spouse may apply at the same time as a family group, or afterwards. But the principal's permit must have been issued before the spousal application is decided, and the principal must then be employed in a qualifying occupation. A spouse cannot be issued a permit while the principal is still working without a permit during the transition, and asking for priority processing ahead of the principal's decision produces a refusal. The timing on that permit.
- Applying together links the two decisions. If the principal's application is refused, any family member application submitted with it is also refused. The open work permit holder fee is refunded, the work permit processing fee is not. That refund is not a rule about family filings. Section 303.2(3) of the Regulations provides that the $100 fee is remitted, and must be repaid by the Minister to the person who paid it, whenever the work permit is refused, or where the foreign national withdraws the application and requests a remission before the work permit is issued. It applies to any applicant who paid it, however the application was filed. The principal must also enter Canada before or at the same time as the family, not afterwards.
Spouse or partner of a student
The program decides it, and most programs no longer qualify
The student must hold a valid study permit and be studying in one of four things. A master's degree program of 16 months or longer. A doctoral degree program. One of a named set of professional degree programs at a university. Or one of a named list of eligible programs in particular provinces.
The professional degrees, in full. Doctor of Dental Surgery, Bachelor of Law or Juris Doctor, Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Optometry, Pharmacy, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Bachelor of Nursing Science, Bachelor of Nursing, Bachelor of Education, and Bachelor of Engineering. An undergraduate degree outside that list does not qualify. A college or polytechnic program does not qualify. A master's program of less than 16 months does not qualify.
The eligible provincial programs at the review date are the Francophone Minority Communities Student Pilot outside Quebec from 26 August 2024, three Quebec projects recognising the competence of internationally recruited nurses from 30 April 2024 and of respiratory therapists and medical laboratory technologists trained abroad from 21 January 2025, the Supervised Practice Experience Partnership in Ontario, the Nurse Re-Entry program at Red River College Polytechnic in Manitoba, and in British Columbia the Internationally Educated Midwives Bridging Program, the Canadian Pharmacy Practice Program and the post degree diploma in Nursing Practice in Canada at Langara College. This list is added to, so it is worth checking rather than assuming.
- The proof is about the student, not the spouse. A valid letter of acceptance from the designated learning institution, a proof of enrolment letter, or transcripts from the current program. Where an eligible provincial program is relied on, a letter from the province or a letter of acceptance from a participating institution showing admission to that program. Evidence of the relationship is asked for separately.
- The permit usually matches the study permit. The department says that most of the time the spouse's permit will be valid for the same period as the study permit.
- Extending has its own four conditions, and they are stricter than the entry test. The student must hold a valid study permit, be physically in Canada or about to be while studying, be a full time student enrolled in a program that is eligible for the post graduation work permit at a designated learning institution, and not be in the last term of the program. The extension cannot run past the study permit expiry.
- A student cannot make a spouse eligible under the worker measure. The exclusions on the worker route name an international student holding a study permit, and a student working on or off campus without a work permit. So the student route is the only one available while the studies are under way, and it either fits or it does not.
- There is a published technical workaround for the online form. The department states that because of a technical issue with online applications, applicants must answer the eligibility questions in a particular way to generate the right document checklist, and it sets out the exact answers for applying from inside and from outside Canada. It is worth following those instructions literally rather than answering what seems intuitive.
Being sponsored, which is a different route
This one has nothing to do with anybody working. It runs off a permanent residence application, and because of that it has none of the occupation or duration conditions that the worker route has.
- Who it is for. A spouse, common-law partner or conjugal partner living in Canada who is being sponsored for permanent residence, and an accompanying dependent child of the principal applicant. A dependent child cannot be the principal applicant.
- What must be true. A genuine relationship with the sponsor. Inclusion in a permanent residence application together with an acknowledgement of receipt letter confirming that it is being processed, which is the sponsor's letter from the department and carries an application number beginning with F. And living in Canada with the sponsor. For a dependent child, the same must be true of the principal applicant they are accompanying, and the child must be living with them and the sponsor.
- The acknowledgement of receipt is the gate, with one narrow exception. You may apply without it only where both of two things hold. Your work permit, study permit or temporary resident status will expire in two weeks or less. And you have applied for permanent residence either under the spouse or common-law partner in Canada class as a spouse or partner, or under the family class as a spouse, common-law or conjugal partner sponsored from overseas.
- You must hold status, or be able to restore it. A valid temporary resident permit, a valid visitor record, work permit or study permit, maintained status, or eligibility for restoration as a visitor, worker or student.
- Who cannot use it. Anyone whose permanent residence application has been refused, withdrawn or returned, and anyone planning to apply at a port of entry, which is not available on this route.
- Keep the status question separate from the permit question. While the permanent residence application is processed the sponsored person must maintain temporary resident status and must wait for the permit before starting work. If they already hold a work permit that is expiring they may keep working so long as they maintain their status as a worker. A temporary resident permit applicant does not get maintained status at all. The sponsorship route in full.
How long it runs, and how it ends
| Route | How long | What ends it |
|---|---|---|
| Spouse of a worker | Issued for a period ending no later than the principal's period of authorised stay, or the expiry of the applicant's passport, whichever comes first | The principal's authorisation ending. The department cannot issue beyond the principal's permit, nor beyond the family member's passport or biometrics validity |
| Spouse of a student | Most of the time the same period as the study permit | The study permit expiry. An extension cannot be issued beyond it, and the extension test also requires the student to be enrolled full time and not in their last term |
| Sponsored spouse in the family class | Tied to the permanent residence application rather than to a principal worker | A refusal, withdrawal or return of the permanent residence application removes eligibility |
Where the family member's permit is shorter than the principal's because of a passport or biometrics expiry, the sequence is to get a new passport and then apply to extend before the current permit expires. In-Canada family members can still extend on the criteria that applied when they received the permit, including under the pre 21 January 2025 rules in some circumstances, provided they are in Canada, their permit is shorter than the principal's, and they apply before it expires.
The fees are two, not one. A work permit fee of $155 and an open work permit holder fee of $100. Where a family application is submitted with the principal's and the principal is refused, the open work permit holder fee is refunded and the work permit processing fee is not. The refund is not confined to that situation. Section 303.2(3) of the Regulations remits the $100 fee, and requires the Minister to repay it to the person who paid it, on any refusal of the work permit, and on withdrawal where a remission is requested before the permit issues.
Which route, and does it fit
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
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