Bridging Open Work Permit (BOWP)

This permit may be within reach if your permanent residence application was filed through one of the programs IRCC names for this permit and that application has cleared the completeness check. That check is the first stage, when IRCC makes sure all the required forms, documents and fees are present before reviewing anything in depth.

You also have to be living in Canada at the time you apply, and you must plan to settle outside Quebec. Temporary resident status is IRCC's permission for you to be in Canada for a set time, whether as a worker, a student or a visitor. To be eligible, you need one of these:

• temporary resident status that is still valid, along with a work permit that is valid too, or
• eligibility to restore your status and be issued a work permit

Restoration means requesting that IRCC give you back your temporary resident status after it has lapsed, as long as you do so within the allowed window. You also still have to meet the usual requirements every work permit asks for.

Plenty of people in Express Entry spend time waiting to be invited to apply, and the bridging permit only becomes an option once a permanent residence application has actually been submitted. IRCC states plainly that you should keep your work permit from running out during that wait. The permit exists only to cover the wait for a PR application you have already sent.

If that stage has not arrived yet, the better move is to renew the work permit you hold now before it ends. IRCC currently lists 121 days for work permit extensions inside Canada, but this is a processing estimate, not a deadline for applying.

When IRCC decides on your bridging permit, you need to be in Canada with temporary resident status that is still valid, or your application may be refused. Leaving while your status and permit are still valid is less risky than leaving after either has expired.

Should your work permit run out while you are abroad, or you leave after it has run out, your temporary resident status is gone. Then you are not allowed to work until the new permit comes through, so it pays to look at your dates before you book anything.

For most people the way to do this is to apply online. If the online system does not work for you, IRCC will accept a paper application instead. As you fill it in:

1. Choose "Open work permit" as your work permit type.
2. You need to cover two fees: the one for processing the work permit and the one for holding an open work permit.
3. Where several documents belong in the same spot, put them together in a single file for that field, because each field allows only one upload.

Before you begin, confirm that your permanent residence application has cleared the completeness check. If your permanent residence application hasn't passed that check yet, wait until it has before you apply for this permit.

Check the requirements for your permanent residence program, including where you must intend to live. If your permanent residence application rests on a Quebec selection certificate (CSQ), IRCC says the certificate had to be valid on the day you applied for permanent residence.

Which caregiver program you applied under determines the rules. If you applied under the Home Child Care Provider Pilot or the Home Support Worker Pilot, which were open from 2019 to 2024, you must demonstrate six months of work that qualifies and meet the same status conditions everyone else has to meet. The older classes for child care and for high-medical-needs care are also covered.

If you applied through the Home Care Worker Immigration pilots launched in 2025, this permit is not available to you. If you are in one of the 2025 pilots, check other ways to keep a valid work permit while your file is processed.

This permit exists because of that wait. These are IRCC's current processing estimates for several permanent residence programs; this is not a list of programs that qualify for a bridging open work permit.

The numbers shift as IRCC moves through its files, so what you see when you apply may not match. For you, the useful comparison is between the time left on your current permit and the wait you can expect, and this site offers information, not immigration advice.