Bridging Work Permit For Spouse

You find yourself in the lucky position of being sponsored for a work permit; you call your spouse, who is on a student visa and tell them the great news. You even share your happiness with applying for a bridging work permit together!  Result! – Not so fast. The bridging work permit doesn’t apply to you and it’s not as simple as getting in line for this bridging work permit anymore.

To obtain a work permit for a spouse, the applicant must first obtain a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) from ESDC. This LMIA is already needed as part of the process for obtaining permanent residency. However, in this situation, if the person is already in Canada or if they hold a valid work permit or if they are currently applying under an open work permit, they do not need to obtain an LMIA. The pass required is called B-418 – Bridging Work Permit. This document allows your spouse to work while you wait for a decision on your PR application. There are some conditions that apply and some criteria that must be met by both you and your spouse.

General eligibility

To be eligible for a BOWP, foreign nationals must

• be currently in Canada after being authorized to enter as a temporary resident under section 22 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA)
• meet one of the following criteria:
  • have valid temporary resident status and authorization to work as the holder of a valid work permit
  • have maintained status and authorization to work under paragraph 186(u) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) as a result of submitting an application to renew their work permit under subsection R201(1)
  • be eligible to restore their temporary resident status with authorization to work on a work permit

• have submitted an APR as the principal applicant under one of the following classes:
  • federal skilled worker class (FSWC)
  • Canadian experience class (CEC)
  • federal skilled trades class (FSTC)
  • caring for children class or caring for people with high medical needs class before June 18, 2019
  • Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) for applicants for whom there are no employer restrictions on nominations
  • Agri-Food Pilot (AFP)
  • Quebec skilled worker class (QSWC)
• have completed one of the following APR stages depending on their class:
  • electronic application for permanent residence (e-APR) submitted under Express Entry has passed the section R10 completeness check. This applies to the following classes:
    • FSWC
    • CEC
    • FSTC
    • PNP (where the applicant is accepted through the provincial or territorial Express Entry stream)
  • APR under the QSWC has passed the section R10 completeness check
  • receipt of a positive eligibility assessment on their non-Express Entry APR submitted by mail or online under one of the following classes:
    • caring for children
    • caring for people with high medical needs
    • AFP
    • PNP (where the applicant does not qualify for Express Entry)