VisaWorkers in Canada must stop working while seeking restoration after a missed expiry
A current-rule guide explains the ordinary restoration deadline, work-permit evidence, separate charges and the limited Manitoba exception for workers who missed their expiry date.
Official announcement date: not established (undated guidance)
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Edited and checked by the VisaWand editorial team
Identify whether you missed the deadline to extend
Foreign workers in Canada whose permits expired before they applied to extend them must stop working. IRCC’s Help Centre explains that an eligible restoration application can allow a person to remain while awaiting instructions, but employment cannot resume until the restored work permit is received. Approval is not guaranteed. This guide addresses missed expiry, rather than a valid extension application submitted on time.
The Help Centre also directs International Experience Canada participants to their separate extension instructions. A previous employer’s willingness to keep a job open does not replace immigration permission. First establish whether an extension was actually submitted before expiry; an unfinished application in an account is not a decision restoring work rights.
Check eligibility and collect evidence for the new permit
Guide 5553 normally requires a restoration request within ninety days of status loss, an explanation of the circumstances, continued eligibility for the stay and compliance with remaining permit conditions. Temporary resident permit holders cannot use restoration. Cases involving unauthorized changes of employer or other breaches need the guide’s specific assessment, rather than an assumption that every expired permit can be restored.
The new work-permit application still needs evidence for its own category. The guide identifies the job offer and Labour Market Impact Assessment where required, or the employer’s offer-of-employment number for the relevant exempt route. Qualifications or trade certification may also be needed. Quebec employment can require the applicable acceptance documentation. Explain the missed deadline fully while separately documenting why the proposed employment qualifies; restoration does not turn an ineligible job into an eligible one.
Use the personalised checklist for the online application
IRCC’s IMM 5556 checklist service distinguishes paper preparation from online filing. An online applicant receives a personalised list after starting the application and does not upload the general PDF checklist itself. Use the generated list to organise the required forms and supporting evidence for the actual application.
Paper applicants instead assemble documents in the order shown and place the completed checklist at the top. The public service says to save the form on a computer and open it in compatible software.
Budget separately for restoration and the work permit
The official fee list gives CAD401.25 for restoring worker status and obtaining a new permit: CAD246.25 for restoration plus CAD155 for the permit. An open work permit also carries its separate CAD100 holder charge where payable. Do not confuse the restoration component with the complete combined amount.
For illustration, the published combined worker-restoration amount plus the open-permit holder charge totals CAD501.25 before any applicable biometrics charge. This is an arithmetic example, not a determination that a particular person qualifies for an open permit or a fee exemption. Check the current fee list against the actual permit category before paying.
Submit the restoration request and explanation before the deadline
The restoration service specifies midnight UTC for an online submission within the ordinary ninety-day limit. Compare UTC with local time before relying on the final calendar day. It also distinguishes the permit’s work-expiry date from a later printed “Must leave Canada by” date governing status expiry, so record both dates if the document contains them.
For the usual online route, select worker restoration in question three of IMM 5710 and provide a separate explanation of the overstay. Upload that explanation under client information, complete the personalised checklist and submit through the account linked from the restoration service. Family members who also lost status each need their own application and restoration payment; there is no family restoration rate. A receipt or submitted explanation alone does not permit employment to restart.
Do not generalise the Manitoba support-letter exception
The restoration service links a special policy for prospective Manitoba provincial nominees. Its separate eligibility page allows certain workers whose permits were valid on 7 May 2024 to restore without the ordinary ninety-day limit. They need the specified Manitoba support letter issued by 31 December 2025, qualifying placement in the province’s expression-of-interest pool by that date, and a current employer’s employment letter.
This is not an exception for every worker in Manitoba or every provincial nominee applicant. A person outside that defined group should use the ordinary deadline and ask IRCC about any genuinely applicable separate policy. Individual status dates, eligibility and a restoration decision remain unresolved by this public-source guide.
