EXTEND YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS' DOCUMENTS
Effective April 1, 2026, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) updated the requirements for co-op work permits. Eligible international students at post-secondary institutions are no longer required to obtain a separate co-op work permit to complete co-op terms, internships, or practicums. Eligible students may use the on-campus work authorization on their 天美mv天美 study permit to participate in an 天美mv天美-approved work placement.
Work placements must still constitute no more than 50% of the total study program and be an essential component of the program. Work-hour limits remain unchanged. For additional details and eligibility requirements, please visit the webpage.
When extending immigration documents for your family members (e.g. work permit or visitor status for your spouse; visitor status or study permits for your children), please keep the following tips in mind:
- All dependant family members, including children, require their own immigration documents.
- Immigration status documents (e.g. study permit, work permit, visitor record) must be extended before their expiry date.
- A temporary resident visa (TRV) [visa counterfoil in your passport] is not an immigration status document
- If your family member(s) entered Canada as visitors and do not hold immigration status documents, they are still required to apply to extend their stay in Canada before their visitor status expires. Visit the for more information.
- Your family member(s) may hold a visitor record confirming their visitor status in Canada (looks like a study permit).
- Your family member(s) may also have a stamp/markings in the passport from when they initially entered Canada.
- Your family member(s) might not have received a stamp in their passport when they entered Canada.
- You can apply to extend yours and your family members' immigration documents online via the .
- Pay the for each family member.
Spouses and Common-Law Partners
Apply for or extend a work permit under Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) exemption C42
As of March 19, 2024 an open work permit under LMIA exemption C42 may be available to:
- Spouses and common-law partners of full-time students in graduate degree programs (Master鈥檚 and Doctorate)
- Spouses and common-law partners of full-time students in professional degree programs in a university. recognizes the below as professional degree programs:
- Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS, DMD)
- Bachelor of Law or Juris Doctor (LLB, JD, BCL)
- Doctor of Medicine (MD)
- Doctor of Optometry (OD)
- Pharmacy (PharmD, BS, BSc, BPharm)
- Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM)
- Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN, BSN, BNSc)
- Bachelor of Education (BEd)
- Bachelor of Engineering (BEng, BE, BASc)
- Spouses and common-law partners of full time 天美mv天美 students who already hold a valid open work permit under the C42 category and wish to extend their work permit under the same category
- This also includes spouses and common-law partners of current undergraduate students who already hold this open work permit.
Visit the to review the eligibility criteria for the C42 open work permit.
If your spouse or common-law partner has already entered Canada as a visitor, and are eligible under the C42 category, they may apply for an open work permit online from inside Canada. For details of the application process and documents required, please review our "Work Permits for Spouses/Common-Law Partners" available on our website.
defines common-law partners as people of the same or opposite sex who currently cohabitate and have cohabitated in a conjugal relationship for at least one year.