How to find a job in Canada as a refugee

It depends on how you came. Resettled refugees, both government-assisted and privately sponsored, are admitted at the port of entry as permanent residents, so you can work for any employer, like any other permanent resident. Protected persons whose claim the Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) accepted can use free settlement services with no time limit.

Asylum claimants need a work permit. When you fill in the online claim, answer “Yes” to the question asking whether you want a work permit. The permit is only issued once your claim has been found eligible to be referred to the IRB and you have passed your immigration medical exam. There is no fee while your claim is eligible and waiting for a decision. With the permit, apply for a Social Insurance Number; as a temporary resident, it starts with 9 and expires with your permit.

For claims made on or after 3 June 2025, a claim is ineligible to go to the IRB if it was made more than 1 year after you first entered Canada (for people who entered after 24 June 2020, even if they left since), or more than 14 days after crossing between official ports of entry on the Canada–US land border. Unaccompanied minors are exempt. An ineligible claim is referred to the Canada Border Services Agency, which tells you whether you can apply for a pre-removal risk assessment.

If your claim becomes ineligible, IRCC says you might still be eligible for a work permit, but you must apply for a new open work permit and pay the non-refundable fee. These rules have changed more than once recently. Check IRCC’s asylum pages for the version that applies to you, and get advice from a lawyer or licensed consultant, not from social media.

Government-assisted refugees receive the Resettlement Assistance Program: accommodation, clothing, food, employment assistance and other help through service provider organisations, with income support for up to one year from arrival or until you can support yourself, whichever comes first. Privately sponsored refugees are supported by their sponsors, usually for one year. Sponsors help with housing, food and clothing, and also with finding work and school.

That one-year window is why the job search should start early, alongside language classes, not after them. Ask your settlement worker or sponsor on day one about employment programmes, mentoring and bridging programmes for your field.

IRCC funds free settlement services outside Quebec: job search help, language training, mentoring and community connections. Permanent residents, including resettled refugees, and protected persons with an approved claim are eligible. Asylum claimants are not on IRCC’s eligibility list, so ask local organisations what they can offer you while you wait. For health care, refugees, claimants and protected persons may be covered by the Interim Federal Health Program, which covers some health services and prescription drugs.

Job Bank is worth watching for a specific reason: employers applying for low-wage foreign workers must also recruit from under-represented groups, which the rules list as including newcomers and asylum claimants with work permits. Make your work permit clear on your resume and applications.

Doctors, nurses, engineers, teachers, electricians and many other jobs are regulated by a body in each province or territory, and you need its licence before you can practise. The Foreign Credential Recognition tool tells you whether your job is regulated and which body to contact. The process and costs vary by province.

If your papers were lost, the WES Gateway Program evaluates education for refugees and displaced people who cannot obtain official documents from their institution. It covers people living in Canada or the US who were educated in Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, Türkiye, Ukraine or Venezuela. If cost is the barrier, federal Foreign Credential Recognition Loans range from $15,000 to $30,000, and Windmill Microlending offers loans of up to $15,000 for training, exams or licensing. Our qualification recognition guide covers the steps.

The Canada–Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET) ended on 15 July 2023, but measures remain for people already in Canada. If you arrived on or before 31 December 2024 and hold a valid open work permit issued under the public policy for Ukrainians, you can apply to extend it for up to 3 years. The deadline to apply is 31 March 2027. Normal fees apply: $155 for the permit, $100 for the open work permit holder fee and biometrics if required. If your permit expires while IRCC processes your application, you keep your status and can stay while you wait.

The permanent residence pathway for Ukrainians with family in Canada closed on 22 October 2024; applications made before then are still being processed. With a 3-year permit, it is worth gaining skilled Canadian work experience that could count towards Express Entry. Our work permits guide explains the routes.

Many refugees take a first job outside their field to pay the bills. That is fine, as long as you choose it deliberately. A warehouse job in a company that also employs engineers, or a care-aide job for a trained nurse, gives you Canadian references, English or French at work and contacts in the right sector. Job Bank itself recommends volunteering to learn Canadian workplace culture, practise your language and meet people, and notes that many jobs are never advertised.

You will hear that you need “Canadian experience”. The Ontario Human Rights Commission treats a strict requirement for it as prima facie discrimination and asks employers to consider all relevant experience wherever it was gained. Your task is to make that experience easy for a Canadian employer to understand.

Use the standard Canadian format, covered in our Canadian resume guide, and then solve the problems specific to your situation.

• Experience from home: use the nearest Canadian job title, then add one line on the employer: sector, size, what it did. A recruiter in Winnipeg does not know a ministry in Kabul or a hospital in Aleppo. Keep bullets to results: what you did, for how many, with what outcome.
• Gaps: write one factual line and move on. “2021–2024: Relocated to Canada; English classes (CLB 5)” is enough. A resume does not need your immigration story, and you do not have to explain it. Our career gap guide has more wording.
• Missing certificates: list the qualification with the institution and year. Once you have an evaluation (WES Gateway or another assessment), add it. Never claim a qualification you cannot back up.
• Work authorisation: “Open work permit” or “Permanent resident” is enough. Leave out your claimant document number and your SIN.
• Canadian references: put volunteering and placements in the experience section with concrete tasks, and ask each supervisor for a reference.

Start with IRCC’s newcomer services finder, which lists funded organisations by postal code for job search, language training and community support. The Canadian Council for Refugees is a national network of organisations working with refugees and migrants; its members are where individual help is found. If anyone offers you a job, a permit or faster processing for money, check IRCC’s fraud pages first: paid immigration representatives must be licensed, and honest employers do not charge for jobs.