Renewals

Foreign nationals temporarily in Canada under a work permit, study permit or visitor status must apply to extend their stay or must leave Canada before the expiry of their current permit.
In most cases, extensions must be requested online from inside Canada. To apply online for a work permit extension, please refer to IRCC’s .

Processing times for extension applications vary from 2 to 6 months. We strongly encourage all employees to start the extension process early. For remaining in Canada while the extension application is being processed, please refer to Maintained Status.

It is the employee’s responsibility to ensure they apply to renew their status before the expiry date. If your permit expired and you did not apply to extend before it expired, you must stop working and contact your Unit immediately.

Flagpoling

Refers to the practice of driving down to the US-Canada land border or flying down to the United States solely to request Canadian immigration services upon re-entry to Canada.

As of December 2024, flagpoling is no longer authorized except for US citizens and US green card holders, and in a few .

Not all work permits can be requested by flagpoling. Before travelling to the land border, US citizens and green card holders should verify they are authorized to apply at the border for the specific type of permit they are seeking. It is, notably, impossible to apply for the following permits at the border:

• A73 –
• A75 –