Your work permit has an expiry date, and that date is a cliff, not a suggestion. The difference between a smooth continuation and a serious immigration problem comes down to one thing: whether you applied before the permit expired. Here is how the timing works, what the rules allow, and the one mistake that creates a status gap.
Apply before expiry, not after
The single most important rule: submit your extension application before your current work permit expires, ideally weeks in advance. Keep proof of submission and payment. Your employer should also confirm early that they are willing to support another permit, do not discover that answer in the final days.
There is one narrow timing accommodation for LMIA-based permits: if your permit will expire in less than two weeks and your employer has already submitted the LMIA application, IRCC currently allows you to file the extension without the new LMIA in hand, with proof that the LMIA request was submitted and proof of a valid job offer. As of October 28, 2026, IRCC no longer puts a fixed time limit on that wait: it will not decide the extension until the LMIA decision arrives. That is not a grace period of your own. The LMIA still has to come back positive or neutral, and once it is issued you still have to send it to IRCC through the web form yourself. Concurrent processing is not a last-minute fix either: your employer needs to have filed a complete LMIA early enough that a decision was realistically possible before your permit expires, and a late-filed LMIA qualifies only exceptionally. When you file the extension, enter the tracking code CPTS2026 in the intended occupation field; it is for tracking only and does not affect the decision.
Maintained status: keep working while IRCC decides
If you submit an eligible application to extend or change your temporary status before your current permit expires, you have maintained status (the former “implied status”). That means you can legally remain in Canada, and, if you applied to extend your authorization to work and meet the applicable requirements, you can generally keep working while IRCC makes its decision. Maintained status is not a new permit; it preserves the conditions of the expired one.
IRCC tightened these rules on May 28, 2025. Two changes matter most:
Your extension application must be complete when submitted before expiry. If it is incomplete and gets returned after the expiry date, maintained status is lost immediately.
A second application offers no protection. If your first application is refused and your original status has already expired, filing again does not restore maintained status, the second application will be refused and returned.
The critical mistake: letting the permit expire without applying
If you do not apply before expiry, you do not get maintained status. You lose your legal status, and with it, your right to work. Any work performed after expiry without authorization is a serious violation with long-term immigration consequences.
The only remedy from inside Canada is restoration of status, and the rules are strict:
You must apply within 90 days of losing status, not a day later.
You must apply to restore the same type of status you held.
You must stop working immediately upon losing status. Restoration does not authorize work while IRCC decides.
You must remain in Canada while the restoration decision is pending.
Restoration is a discretionary application, not a guaranteed outcome. Note as well that leaving Canada can end maintained status, plan travel around your extension, not through it.
Employer-specific vs. open permits
The “same conditions” rule depends on the permit you held. On an employer-specific work permit, you must continue working under the same conditions as the expired permit, the same employer, the same job, the same work location. On an open work permit, you continue under the conditions applicable to that permit. Either way, maintained status preserves what you had; it never creates work rights you did not already have.
The pattern is consistent: early, complete applications protect your status and your livelihood. Late ones do not. If your permit is expiring soon, the time to plan is now, not the week it runs out.
Book a consultation with NorthPass Immigration Services, 30 minutes ($120) or 60 minutes ($200), with the fee credited in full toward our representation if you retain the firm.
Faisal Khan, Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC), NorthPass Immigration Services
Your work permit has an expiry date, and that date is a cliff, not a suggestion. The difference between a smooth continuation and a serious immigration problem comes down to one thing: whether you applied before the permit expired. Here is how the timing works, what the rules allow, and the one mistake that creates a status gap.
Apply before expiry, not after
The single most important rule: submit your extension application before your current work permit expires, ideally weeks in advance. Keep proof of submission and payment. Your employer should also confirm early that they are willing to support another permit, do not discover that answer in the final days.
There is one narrow timing accommodation for LMIA-based permits: if your permit will expire in less than two weeks and your employer has already submitted the LMIA application, IRCC currently allows you to file the extension without the new LMIA in hand, with proof that the LMIA request was submitted and proof of a valid job offer. As of October 28, 2026, IRCC no longer puts a fixed time limit on that wait: it will not decide the extension until the LMIA decision arrives. That is not a grace period of your own. The LMIA still has to come back positive or neutral, and once it is issued you still have to send it to IRCC through the web form yourself. Concurrent processing is not a last-minute fix either: your employer needs to have filed a complete LMIA early enough that a decision was realistically possible before your permit expires, and a late-filed LMIA qualifies only exceptionally. When you file the extension, enter the tracking code CPTS2026 in the intended occupation field; it is for tracking only and does not affect the decision.
Maintained status: keep working while IRCC decides
If you submit an eligible application to extend or change your temporary status before your current permit expires, you have maintained status (the former “implied status”). That means you can legally remain in Canada, and, if you applied to extend your authorization to work and meet the applicable requirements, you can generally keep working while IRCC makes its decision. Maintained status is not a new permit; it preserves the conditions of the expired one.
IRCC tightened these rules on May 28, 2025. Two changes matter most:
The critical mistake: letting the permit expire without applying
If you do not apply before expiry, you do not get maintained status. You lose your legal status, and with it, your right to work. Any work performed after expiry without authorization is a serious violation with long-term immigration consequences.
The only remedy from inside Canada is restoration of status, and the rules are strict:
Restoration is a discretionary application, not a guaranteed outcome. Note as well that leaving Canada can end maintained status, plan travel around your extension, not through it.
Employer-specific vs. open permits
The “same conditions” rule depends on the permit you held. On an employer-specific work permit, you must continue working under the same conditions as the expired permit, the same employer, the same job, the same work location. On an open work permit, you continue under the conditions applicable to that permit. Either way, maintained status preserves what you had; it never creates work rights you did not already have.
The pattern is consistent: early, complete applications protect your status and your livelihood. Late ones do not. If your permit is expiring soon, the time to plan is now, not the week it runs out.
Book a consultation with NorthPass Immigration Services, 30 minutes ($120) or 60 minutes ($200), with the fee credited in full toward our representation if you retain the firm.
Faisal Khan, Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant (RCIC), NorthPass Immigration Services
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