Few programs have shrunk as quickly as the spousal open work permit. Broad eligibility ended on January 21, 2025, and IRCC has continued to trim the edges since. If your plan assumes your spouse can work in Canada, verify it against the 2026 rules, not the ones your friends remember.
Spouses of workers
A spouse of a foreign worker can generally qualify only if the principal worker holds a job in TEER 0 or 1, or in an eligible TEER 2 or 3 occupation on IRCC’s designated list, and has at least 16 months of work authorization remaining at the time the spouse applies. Dependent children no longer qualify under the worker measure at all.
Spouses of students
The student stream is narrower still. The principal student must be in a master’s program of at least 16 months, a doctoral program, or a listed professional degree such as medicine or law. College diplomas and general bachelor’s programs do not qualify. And under an update effective March 4, 2026, an application will be refused if the student is in their final academic term, including renewals. Timing an application late in a program is now a built-in refusal.
The PNP exception
One door opened this year. Under temporary measures in effect from June 9 to December 31, 2026, spouses of provincial nominees who have applied for permanent residence can qualify for an open work permit without waiting for an acknowledgement of receipt. For nominee families, this fixes a long-standing gap between nomination and PR processing.
If your spouse does not qualify
The remaining options are employer-specific: a job offer supported by an LMIA, or an LMIA-exempt category such as a trade-agreement permit, an intra-company transfer, or a francophone mobility permit for French speakers in eligible jobs. These take planning, but they are real routes, and francophone mobility in particular is underused.
Official source: IRCC: Open work permits for family members of foreign workers.
This article is general legal information, not legal advice. Immigration rules change frequently and every case is different. For advice about your situation, book a consultation.
About the author
Miguel Martins Pereirinha is a Canadian immigration lawyer and partner at Slayen Immigration Law in Vancouver, British Columbia. He practises Canadian immigration law exclusively — work permits, permanent residence, family sponsorship, citizenship and inadmissibility — and works with clients in English and Portuguese.
