In 2021, 2022 and again in 2023, our collective organizing resulted in the federal government allowing Post Graduate Work Permit (PGWP) holders to extend our permits. Yet again, it is not clear who will be able to apply for the 2023 renewal. At the same time, these are temporary one-time measures, and many of us are in crisis because we cannot get our permanent resident status. Express Entry draws are inconsistent and points needed for Canadian Experience Class are too high. We deserve permanent solutions.
Enter your information below to get updates on the PGWP program as it is announced, and to send a letter to Immigration Minister Sean Fraser asking him to fix Express Entry.
Open Letter from Migrant Students
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Immigration Minister Sean Fraser, we are calling on you to ensure permanent resident status for migrant student workers like me. Many of us have expired or expiring permits for reasons beyond our control. We live here, we work here, we have formed homes and communities here, and we deserve to stay.
Too many have been left out from the 2022 post graduate work permit (PGWP) extension policy, even though we faced some of the worst moments of the pandemic, including the highest unemployment rate in Canadian history. We call on you to enact immediate solutions such as: * Make the Post Graduate Work Permit permanently renewable; * Ensure Canadian Experience Class (CEC) specific draws to address the aftermath of the 9 month suspension of draws; * Fix Express Entry by valuing work in all NOC/TEER levels, including TEER 4 and 5, ensuring fair CRS calculations and predictable, transparent draws; * No exclusions: PR status for all regardless of age, immigration status, work, language and education requirements.
We deserve equal rights and dignity, and that means permanent resident status for all of us.
Thank you for your urgent attention to this matter.
On March 18 and 19, current and former international students are organizing and joining actions for permanent resident Status for All and fairness. There are actions in 7 cities across the country, sign up below and join the one in Toronto!
Migrant Student Workers (current, graduated and undocumented international students) are now the largest group of temporary migrants in the country. We are uniting as migrants for our rights, for justice and dignity. Let’s unite to #MakeItFair!
ENSURE STATUS FOR ALL MIGRANT STUDENT WORKERS
Fix Express Entry: Fair CRS calculations, predictable draws, no one left out
Value all work in immigration selection: In any NOC/TEER, work done on the study permit, in co-op
No exclusions: PR status for all regardless of age, immigration status, work, language and education requirements
FIX PERMITS
Permanently end the 20 hour work rule for study permit holders
Make PGWP renewable, and include private college students
Allow co-op work authorization without extra permits
Permit protections for vulnerable and destitute migrant student workers
No industry of work restrictions
LOWER TUITION, ENSURE GOOD JOBS & ALL SERVICES
Fair tuition: No differential treatment, caps on tuition increases, stop the fees
Ensure access to employment and decent work; end wage theft and labour exploitation.
Ensure full access to all services including healthcare, housing, jobs, scholarships, and in-school support
We have created a sketchbook of evocative drawings by over 100 children of migrants separated from their families for decades, and from those fearing family separation because of possible deportations. We urge you to look carefully at the drawings. Share it with your family, friends and colleagues. Imagine the love that went into each drawing. Imagine the birthdays, the funerals, the anniversaries missed. Imagine the immense change that you can help create when you support regularization for all undocumented people and permanent resident status for all migrants. A fair society is only possible with equal rights; and equal rights are only possible if everyone has the same immigration status. Add your name to our petition at www.StatusForAll.ca
Join us online on Wednesday, March 1 at 7pm (Toronto time) for an open and anonymous meeting for undocumented migrants and supporters from across the country. We will provide an update on the campaign for regularization, answer all your questions, and share what needs to be done for us to win.
REGISTER RIGHT NOW to get the Zoom link or come back to this registration page on March 1st and join in. Simultaneous interpretation will be available in Spanish and English.
On the morning of Family Day, join migrant and undocumented people to call for family unity, regularization and Status for All, without exclusion and without delay, and check out an art exhibit of migrant children’s drawings.
10am, Monday February 20 Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland’s Office 344 Bloor St. West, M5S 3A7 Corner of Spadina and Bloor
1 in 23 people in Canada are separated from our families or fear being torn apart because of deportations. We’re unable to hug our children, put their drawings up on our fridges or be with them for birthdays, graduation or weddings.
Click here to sign your organization up as an endorser. Click here to sign as an individual. Endorsed by: Canadian Federation of Students – National, University of Toronto Mississauga Students Union, Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) Local 901, York Federation of Students, Canadian Federation of Students – Ontario, Sudbury Workers Education and Advocacy Centre, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 2626, Afro-Canadian Positive Network of British Columbia, Global Peace Alliance BC Society, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 3902, Capilano Students’ Union and more
The Fairness Agenda for Migrant Student Workers is a platform that unites current and former international students’ demands and issues directed at all levels of government, institutions and employers. The objective of the platform is to:
Create a unified cross-cutting set of demands that any organization working with migrant students workers can link to regardless of their particular expertise or focus;
Build bridges between various migrant student worker organizations; and
Establish a process to discuss and strategize on demands in the federal government’s upcoming review and announced changes.
We at Migrant Students United are connected with over 25,500 current and former international students. We are the only cross-country organization that has a membership of current, graduated and undocumented students with chapters in Ontario, BC and Newfoundland, and members in 10 provinces and territories. Over the last year, our membership has been identifying priorities and we have been consulting with organizations like yours, particularly as we have campaigned for and won recent changes to post-graduate work permit and study permit hours of work rules. Over 4,700 current and former students’ input has shaped this agenda. The Fairness Agenda for Migrant Student Workers is the culmination of this assessment and study.
The Fairness Agenda for Migrant Student Workers is a broad set of principles from which more specific policy proposals can be created as we continue our ongoing work. We at Migrant Students United will continue to build collective migrant student worker power to campaign for this agenda at all levels.
By endorsing the agenda, your organization:
Agrees to be listed as an organizational supporter of the Fairness Agenda for Migrant Student Workers;
Agrees to link to the Fairness Agenda for Migrant Student Workers where appropriate in your individual campaigns;
Can opt-in to receive and share information about your campaigns and activities with other endorsers;
Can opt-in to be connected to organizations similar to yours campaigning towards the same aim;
Can opt-in to participate in future joint activities that will be determined in coordination with endorsers.
See link to the endorsement request letter here and read what’s in the agenda here.
Fill out this form to endorse!
Fairness Agenda for Migrant Student Workers
Current and graduated international students (Migrant Student Workers) are now the largest group of temporary migrants in the country. We are uniting as migrants for our rights, for justice and dignity.
ENSURE STATUS FOR ALL MIGRANT STUDENT WORKERS
Fix Express Entry: Fair CRS calculations, predictable draws, no one left out
Value all work in immigration selection: In any NOC/TEER, work done on the study permit, in co-op
No exclusions: PR status for all regardless of age, immigration status, work, language and education requirements
FIX PERMITS
Permanently end the 20 hour work rule for study permit holders
Make PGWP renewable, and include private college students
Allow co-op work authorization without extra permits
Permit protections for vulnerable and destitute migrant student workers
No industry of work restrictions
LOWER TUITION, ENSURE GOOD JOBS & ALL SERVICES
Fair tuition: No differential treatment, caps on fee increases, stop the fees
Regulate education recruiters, provide whistleblower protections to students
Ensure access to employment and decent work; end wage theft and labour exploitation
Ensure full access to all services including healthcare, housing, jobs, scholarships, and in-school support
We can’t lose our people. Abu won his case on December 31, just hours before he was set to be deported. But he doesn’t have permanent resident status yet. Let’s continue the fight for Abu, and the 1.7 million migrant farmworkers, careworkers, current and former international students, refugees and undocumented people in the country who are denied equal rights. Sign the petition for PR status for all: https://migrantrights.ca/take-action/permanent-resident-status/
Please scroll below the first paragraph and wait a moment for the petition to load.
My name is Abu Hena Mostofa Kamal. I’m a former international student and I am facing deportation on January 1st because I couldn’t pay my high tuition fees. Please support me by sending a message to Immigration Minister Sean Fraser and Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino. You can read more of my story below.
Abu’s story
I came to Canada when I was 19 years old from Bangladesh, as a migrant student to study in Thunder Bay, Ontario. I was not able to renew my study permit because of high international tuition fees. Tuition fees have increased over the pandemic, and when migrant students like me can’t pay, we get punished.
As a migrant student, I had to take jobs with bad working conditions, but couldn’t speak up because of my status. Employers didn’t pay me my wages and I got unfairly treated at work. I feel like we’re on a leash, like we are disposable human beings with an expired date.
I applied for permanent residency 18 months ago, but it still has not been processed. Immigration Canada approved me for temporary status, but I am still facing deportation.
Because of this crisis, I had to rely on a local church and I wasn’t sure where my next meal was coming from. I am now 23 years old, it feels like my life is on hold.
But I have not been quiet. On November 14, 2022, I drove 15 hours to go to Ottawa from Thunder Bay to meet with Immigration Minister Sean Fraser. I reminded the Minister that Prime Minister Trudeau promised to give status to all undocumented people. Prime Minister Trudeau must deliver on his promise, he must deliver a regularization program without caps and without exclusions, and status for all, without delay.
Please add your name to my petition calling for a stop to my deportation, and full and permanent immigration status for all migrant and undocumented people.
This is the most updated information we have about family work permits written for migrants in Canada.
Not all the rules have been announced. Immigration Canada is supposed to release the rules (called the public policy) – we will update this page when that information is released.
Here’s what we know as of 5pm on Wednesday, February 8, 2023. You must meet the qualifications in ALL of the sections below.
This program is for OPEN WORK PERMITS only for SPOUSES/COMMON LAW PARTNERS and WORKING AGE CHILDREN who are dependents.
(1) PERMIT LENGTH AND VALIDITY
You may be able to apply for a work permit for a spouse or a common law partner, and dependent children if you have a valid work permit or authorization to work that is valid for six (6) more months when you apply for a family work permit.
Note that study permit holders can apply for their families to join them if they are studying at a public post-secondary institution. Click here for details.
(2) TYPES OF WORK PERMITS OR IMMIGRATION STATUS THAT ARE ELIGIBLE
You may be able to apply on the basis of a work permit, if you fit in ONE of the categories listed here:
You have a valid work permit in the high-waged worker stream of the Temporary Foreign Workers Program (to see if you are high-waged or low-waged, you must check your Labour Market Impact Assessment).
You have an open work permit that was issued because you applied for permanent resident status as
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 IF YOU APPLIED 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)
(3) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS
You must additionally meet ALL of the the following requirements:
You are living or plan to live in Canada while working.
You can prove that you are in a genuine relationship with your spouse or common law partner for at least 1 year.
If you are sponsoring your children, you must prove that they are your dependents.
If you are sponsoring your children they must be of working age in the province or territory (check provincial Ministry of Labour website).
If your spouse or children are in Canada, they either
Have a valid temporary resident status.
Have applied to extend your status before it expired (maintained status).
Information updated at 5:30pm on Monday, January 30, 2023 changed the information that was provided as of January 29, 2023. As of 5pm on February 8, 2023, the following people are excluded:
Seasonal Agricultural Workers (8 month contracts or less) and other workers in the Primary Agricultural Stream of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (1+ year contracts).
All low-wage workers in the Temporary Foreign Workers Program are excluded unless:
You have a work permit issued because you applied for PR in the Economic Streams (see point 2Bd above)
Refugee claimants or refused refugee claimants who have a work permit issued under R206 exemption from an LMIA.
All migrants without a valid work permit are excluded.
Migrant fishery workers, care workers, and others are therefore excluded. This is different from the information provided on January 29, 2023.
We still do not know if the following migrants are included or excluded:
Open work permits for vulnerable workers
Low-wage stream workers but who are now in a high-wage job (TEER 1, 2, or 3).
We must immediately and quickly organize and speak up to say that all families are equal, and that all migrants must be with our families. The government has said they will do a consultation about migrant agricultural workers, but they have not said anything about low-wage workers like fishery workers and care workers.
SEND US A MESSAGE NOW IF YOU WANT TO ORGANIZE AND TAKE ACTION!
Migrant Care Workers/ Health Care Workers: 647-782-6633
In addition, you must also provide the following information:
If you are sponsoring spouses and common-law partners
a copy of your marriage certificate
a declaration of your common-law relationship
If you are sponsoring dependents:
a birth certificate
adoption papers
A copy of your work permit OR the visitor record with expiry date showing that you’re authorized to work without a work permit with expiry date (for 6 months after the date of application)
Proof that the principal foreign worker can work in Canada for 6 months after the date that the family member submits their work permit
a copy of the work permit with expiry date
a copy of a the visitor record with expiry date showing that you’re authorized to work without a work permit
Proof of work
A letter or contract from your current employer (for open work permit holders, such as PGWP or International Experience Canada)
You will have to upload multiple documents in the same field online. Click here to see how.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
We will be updating this section all day. If you have questions, please contact us on our hotlines.
So what’s changed?
Post graduate work permit holders or other work permit holders through International Experience Canada can now apply for open work permits for their spouses even if they do not have a high-wage job in TEER 1, 2 or 3.
High-wage temporary foreign workers, and those with open work permits under HCCP/HSWP were already able to apply for work or study permits for their families.
Who are dependent children?
Dependent children are those under 22 years old (on the date of application) and do not have a spouse or partner
Children who are 22 or older can qualify as dependents if they have depended on their parents for financial support since before they were 22 AND can’t financially support themselves because of a mental or physical condition
My permit was initially for longer than 6 months, but is now currently less than 6 months until it expires. Can I apply?
As per the information only released at 5:30pm on January 30, 2023, you will not be able to apply.
What is the processing time?
It varies by country and whether you are applying from outside or inside Canada. To check times, click here.
What will the length of the permit be issued to family members?
We don’t know yet.
Can you apply for small children-as old as 3 years old and how?
You cannot apply for a work permit for children as old as 3 years old, but you can apply for a visitor’s visa to unite with family members here.
If you have children who are under 18 or 19 years old (depending on the province), and you have a valid study or work permit, you may be able to apply for a study permit for them as long as you meet the requirements. Click here for more details.
What if I have implied status?
Your work permit must be valid for six more months. So implied status is excluded.
Migrant Workers Alliance for Change is an organization of migrants. We are not part of the government, and we are not immigration consultants or agencies. You will not be charged any fees for this information, and your information will not be be shared with anyone.
