Canadian work permits explained: which route fits you?

Work down the questions in order and stop at the first yes. More than one route can fit the same person; when that happens, prefer the one that gives you an open permit or a direct path to permanent residence.

• Are you a Canadian citizen or permanent resident? You need no permit.
• Are you studying in Canada, or about to graduate? See working in Canada after graduation for off-campus work and the PGWP.
• Are you 18 to 35 (18 to 30 in some countries), and does your country take part in International Experience Canada? Consider IEC first: the Working Holiday category gives an open permit with no job offer.
• Do you already meet Express Entry’s requirements (skilled work, language test, assessed education)? Create a profile now; permanent residence avoids the LMIA question altogether.
• Does your employer or your job fall under an LMIA exemption, such as an intra-company transfer or an international agreement? Use the International Mobility Program.
• Is the wage at or above your province’s high-wage threshold? The employer can apply for a high-wage LMIA.
• Is the wage below the threshold? A low-wage LMIA is possible only outside the frozen cities or in an exempt sector.
• Is your partner a worker in a management, professional or priority job, or a student in an eligible master’s, doctoral or professional programme? You may qualify for a spousal open work permit.

Two warnings before you spend money. First, parts of the system change every quarter in 2026, such as the list of cities frozen for low-wage LMIAs, so check the canada.ca pages linked below on the day you apply. Second, a genuine employer pays the LMIA fee: if anyone asks you to pay for an LMIA or a job offer, it is a scam, and IRCC says so explicitly.

Most foreign workers in Canada hold an employer-specific permit: one employer, one job, one location. Usually the employer must first get a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) from Employment and Social Development Canada, showing that hiring you will not harm the Canadian labour market. The employer applies, pays $1,000 per position and cannot recover that cost from you. With the positive LMIA, you apply to IRCC for the permit and pay $155.

Which stream applies depends only on the wage. If the offer is at or above the provincial median wage plus 20% ($36.92 an hour in Ontario, $38.40 in British Columbia, $37.50 in Alberta from 17 July 2026), it is a high-wage position: the employer advertises for at least 4 consecutive weeks and can request up to 3 years of employment. Below that, it is low-wage, and the rules are much tighter:

• At least 8 consecutive weeks of advertising within the 3 months before applying, including recruitment aimed at young people and under-represented groups.
• A maximum employment duration of 1 year.
• A cap of 10% low-wage foreign workers per work location (20% in some sectors).
• The employer pays round-trip transport, arranges affordable housing and buys private health insurance until provincial coverage starts.
• No processing at all in census metropolitan areas with unemployment of 6% or higher: 26 areas between 10 July and 8 October 2026, including Toronto, Montréal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa-Gatineau. Primary agriculture, construction, food manufacturing, hospitals, nursing care facilities and positions of 120 days or less are exempt.

In practice, a low-wage offer from a big-city employer outside the exempt sectors cannot currently be approved. If a recruiter says otherwise, ask which exemption applies and check it on the ESDC page yourself.

The Global Talent Stream is still an LMIA, but a fast one. Category A covers innovative firms referred by a designated partner; Category B covers highly skilled roles on the Global Talent Occupations list. ESDC aims to process the LMIA in 10 business days, and IRCC aims to process the work permit in 2 weeks, each 80% of the time. The employer also commits to a Labour Market Benefits Plan, activities with a lasting positive impact on the Canadian labour market, and its progress is reviewed every year. If a Canadian tech company wants you quickly, ask whether it already uses the stream.

Many permits need no LMIA at all. The International Mobility Program covers work that supports Canada’s economic, social or cultural interests, including international agreements, intra-company transfers and International Experience Canada. The employer submits the offer of employment through IRCC’s Employer Portal and usually pays a $230 employer compliance fee, and may be inspected afterwards. If you work for a multinational with a Canadian office, ask HR about an intra-company transfer before anyone mentions an LMIA.

IEC is the easiest way in for young people from participating countries. The age limit is 18 to 35, or 18 to 30 for some countries, and the categories and quotas depend on your country’s agreement with Canada. The 2026 season is open.

• Working Holiday: an open work permit, for people without a job offer who want to work for more than one employer or in more than one place.
• Young Professionals: an employer-specific permit for a job that counts towards your professional development, classified in TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3.
• International Co-op (Internship): an employer-specific permit for students at a post-secondary institution outside Canada, for a placement linked to their field of study.

You create a profile and enter one or more pools. When you are invited, you have 10 days to accept and then 20 days to submit the work permit application. The IEC fee is $184.75, and the Working Holiday permit adds the $100 open work permit holder fee.

An open permit lets you work for almost any employer, which makes you far easier to hire. Since January 2025, spousal open permits are limited. Spouses of students qualify only if the student is in a master’s programme of 16 months or more, a doctoral programme, certain professional programmes or other select eligible programmes. Spouses of workers qualify only if the worker is in a management or professional occupation, or in a sector or job linked to government priorities. Our accompanying partners guide covers rebuilding a career on a partner’s move.

Graduates of eligible Canadian programmes can get a post-graduation work permit of up to 3 years, which is also an open permit. The eligibility rules changed in 2024; see the PGWP guide.

Express Entry manages three programmes: the Federal Skilled Worker Program, the Canadian Experience Class and the Federal Skilled Trades Program. You create a profile, get a Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score, and IRCC invites the highest-ranked candidates in rounds. If you are invited, you submit a full application for permanent residence. The fee is $1,590 for a principal applicant, including the right of permanent residence fee.

• Federal Skilled Worker: at least 1 year of continuous skilled work (TEER 0–3) in the last 10 years, anywhere in the world, CLB 7 in all four language abilities, assessed education, 67 points on the selection grid, and proof of funds unless you already work legally in Canada with a valid job offer.
• Canadian Experience Class: at least 1 year of skilled work in Canada in the last 3 years while authorised to work. Self-employment and work done while a full-time student do not count.
• Job offers no longer add CRS points, as of 25 March 2025. Canadian study, French and a sibling in Canada still do, and a provincial nomination adds 600.
• Category-based rounds target French-language proficiency, healthcare and social services, STEM, trades, education and transport, plus physicians, senior managers and researchers with Canadian work experience, and skilled military recruits. Most occupational categories require 12 months of full-time work in that occupation within the past 3 years.

If you studied outside Canada, you need an Educational Credential Assessment from a designated organisation, such as World Education Services (WES), for the Federal Skilled Worker Program or for CRS points. It must be less than 5 years old. IRCC notes that an ECA does not guarantee a job in your field or a professional licence.

Every province and territory except Quebec and Nunavut runs a Provincial Nominee Program, selecting people whose skills its economy needs. Some streams feed into Express Entry, where a nomination adds 600 CRS points; others are applied for outside it. You must be nominated by the province first, and each province sets its own streams and criteria, so read its programme page rather than a summary. Quebec has its own agreement with Canada and selects its skilled workers itself before IRCC processes permanent residence.

The Atlantic Immigration Program leads to permanent residence in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island or Newfoundland and Labrador. You need a job offer from a designated employer in one of those provinces.

An employer-specific permit ties you to that employer. To change jobs, you must apply for a new work permit, usually on the basis of a new LMIA or offer. Under a temporary public policy, you can ask IRCC for authorisation to start the new job while your application is processed; IRCC says it should respond in about 10 to 15 days. Open permit holders can change employers at any time while the permit is valid.

You have the same workplace rights as Canadians. Your employer must give you a signed employment agreement, pay you as agreed and follow provincial employment standards, and may not make you repay recruitment fees. You are allowed to change employers. Report abuse or LMIA fraud confidentially to Service Canada’s tip line on 1-866-602-9448.