Restoring Status After a Work Permit Expires in Canada

Few things create more anxiety than realizing your work permit has expired — especially if you're still going to work every day and depending on that job. Whether it happened because a renewal application was filed late, got delayed, or was simply missed, the moment your permit expires changes your legal position, even if nothing about your actual job has changed.

This article covers what happens the moment a work permit lapses, whether you can keep working in the meantime, and how the restoration process applies specifically to workers.

What Happens the Moment Your Work Permit Expires

The day your work permit's expiry date passes, your authorization to work under that permit ends — regardless of whether you applied for an extension, and regardless of whether that application is still being processed. If you applied before the expiry date, you may benefit from implied status that lets you continue working on the same terms while IRCC decides your extension. If you didn't apply before expiry, that protection isn't available.

Can You Keep Working While You Sort This Out?

This depends entirely on timing:

• If you applied for an extension before your permit expired: you generally continue to be authorized to work on the same conditions while the extension is processed.
• If your permit expired before you applied for anything: you generally do not have authorization to keep working, even informally, until a new application changes that.

Continuing to work without authorization is a serious issue that can affect not just your current situation but future immigration applications too. If you're not sure which category you fall into, treat it as urgent rather than continuing to work by default.

Applying to Restore Worker Status

If your permit has already lapsed and you're within the eligible restoration window, the general process involves:

1. Confirming you're still eligible for restoration (this depends on your status category and how your status was lost).
2. Applying to restore your temporary resident status.
3. Applying for a new work permit alongside the restoration request — restoration of status and authorization to work are handled as connected but distinct applications.
4. Providing an employer offer or supporting documents required for the type of work permit you're seeking.
5. Waiting for a decision on both the restoration and the work permit application before resuming work.

Special Considerations for Employer-Specific Work Permits

If your expired permit was tied to a specific employer (sometimes supported by a Labour Market Impact Assessment, or LMIA), remember that an LMIA is an employer-side document confirming a labour market need — it is not itself a work permit, and it doesn't restore your status on its own. If your job or employer has changed since your permit expired, you may need updated supporting documents from the employer as part of your new application, not just a renewal of the old paperwork.

Some categories of work permit are LMIA-exempt, but "exempt" only means you don't need that specific document — you still need a valid work permit application to work legally.

What Your Employer Should Know

Employers sometimes assume an employee can keep working as long as "the paperwork is in progress." That isn't accurate once a permit has actually expired without a prior application on file. Employers relying on outdated status documents can face their own compliance exposure, so it's worth both sides confirming the actual legal position rather than assuming.

Frequently asked questions