Bridging Open Work Permit (BOWP): 2026 Guide

Permanent residence applications often take longer than the work permit you already hold. The bridging open work permit (BOWP) fills that gap. It is an open work permit, so you can work for almost any employer in Canada while you wait for a decision on your permanent residence application.

The legal basis is paragraph 205(a) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR), which allows work permits for work that brings significant social, cultural or economic benefits to Canada. IRCC uses administrative code A75 for this permit. Its officer instructions say the benefit comes from people who already work in Canada keeping their jobs and settling while they move to permanent residence. No Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) is needed.

IRCC administrative code for the BOWP

A75

Permanent residence program groups on IRCC's BOWP page

7

Work permit fee plus open work permit holder fee

$255

Usual validity in IRCC's officer instructions

24 months

IRCC's current eligibility rules do not say how close to expiry your work permit must be. What matters is your status on the day you apply: you hold a valid work permit, you are on maintained status as a worker, or you are eligible to restore your status. IRCC updated its officer instructions in July 2022 to say the applicant must be authorized to work at the time of submission only.

Every BOWP applicant must meet the general requirements below. The stage your permanent residence application must reach, and the letter you upload, depend on your program.

• In Canada as a temporary residentYou must be in Canada after being allowed in as a temporary resident. IRCC does not issue a BOWP at a port of entry or a visa office.
• Authorized to work when you applyYou hold a valid work permit, or your permit expired after you applied to extend it (maintained status), or you are eligible to restore your status as a worker.
• Principal applicantYou are the principal applicant on the permanent residence application, not a spouse or dependant.
• Right program and stageYour application is under an eligible program and has reached the stage shown in the table below.
• Where you plan to liveFor most programs you must live in Canada and intend to live outside Quebec. Quebec skilled workers and Quebec investors must intend to live in, or live in, Quebec.
• General work permit rulesYou must meet the general requirements for any work permit, including admissibility.

Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSW), Canadian Experience Class (CEC) and Federal Skilled Trades Program (FST) applicants all follow the Express Entry column. For the caring for children class and the caring for people with high medical needs class, the permanent residence application must have been submitted before those programs closed on June 18, 2019.

1. 1

   Protect your status while you wait for an invitation

   Do not let your work permit expire before you can apply for a BOWP. If needed, extend it the usual way. Your employer may need a new LMIA or a new offer of employment.

2. 2

   Submit a complete permanent residence application

   Apply as the principal applicant. An incomplete Express Entry or Quebec skilled worker application is cancelled, and then you are not eligible for a BOWP.

3. 3

   Wait for the right letter

   IRCC sends the acknowledgement of receipt to your account after it receives your application and finds it complete. Agri-Food Pilot and caregiver applicants wait for the approval in principle letter.

4. 4

   Apply online to change your work permit conditions

   Use the in-Canada work permit extension application (IMM 5710). Select Open work permit as the type of permit. Upload your letter, and your nomination letter or CSQ if you have one, in the Client information field. In most cases you must apply online.

5. 5

   Pay the fees

   Pay the work permit processing fee and the open work permit holder fee, plus the restoration fee if you are restoring your status. Give biometrics if IRCC asks.

6. 6

   Keep working while IRCC decides

   If you applied before your work permit expired, you can keep working under its conditions until IRCC decides (IRPR paragraph 186(u)). If you are restoring your status, you cannot work until IRCC approves the new permit.

Quebec skilled worker and Quebec investor applicants must also answer yes to the question asking whether IRCC has told them they are approved in principle for permanent residence, as IRCC's instructions direct.

You may leave Canada while IRCC processes the BOWP. However, if your work permit expires while you are outside Canada, or you leave after it expires, you lose your temporary resident status. If you then return as a temporary resident, you cannot work until IRCC approves your new permit. For provincial nominees, IRCC says you must be in Canada with valid temporary resident status when it decides, or the application may be refused.

If IRCC refuses the BOWP because your Express Entry or Quebec skilled worker application was incomplete, its officer instructions say the open work permit holder fee is refunded but the processing fee is not. A BOWP application is processed as an in-Canada work permit application. The live IRCC processing times below show the current waits for in-Canada work permits and extensions.

Most of these problems are about timing. Track your permit's expiry date against your permanent residence timeline, and apply to extend your current permit if you will not have your acknowledgement of receipt in time.

• You can work for any employer, except employers on IRCC's non-compliant list and employers that regularly offer striptease, erotic dance, escort services or erotic massages.
• Provincial nominees and Quebec skilled workers can work anywhere in their nominating province, or in Quebec, but not elsewhere. IRCC prints this location condition on the permit.
• IRCC's officer instructions set the permit at 24 months from the date of issue. A work permit cannot be valid past your passport's expiry date.
• For Quebec skilled worker and Quebec investor applicants, the first BOWP is 24 months or your passport's validity, whichever is shorter, and any extension is normally 12 months.
• Your spouse or common-law partner and dependent children may qualify for their own open work permits as family members of an economic class permanent residence applicant.
• If you were not medically examined, the permit may carry conditions that stop you working in jobs such as health care or child care until you complete a medical exam.

When IRCC approves your permanent residence, you become a permanent resident and no longer need a work permit. If your permanent residence application is refused or withdrawn, the basis for the BOWP ends, so plan another way to stay and work.