It is the question that comes up most often when an employer receives an application from someone who is not a Canadian citizen: “can I hire this person”. The answer almost always comes down to one word written on their permit.
The open permit
It allows work for almost any employer, anywhere in Canada. The person can start with you with no process to launch, no processing time, and no compliance obligation on your side.
In practice: no employer portal account to open, no job offer to file, no government fees to pay. Administratively, it is an ordinary hire.
The most common open permits are the post-graduation permit, the spousal permit and certain permits issued under youth exchange programs.
The closed permit
It is tied to an employer named on the permit. If that is not you, the person cannot start working for you, not even part time, not even temporarily, until they obtain a new permit.
This is where most good-faith mistakes happen. A candidate says “I have a valid work permit”, which is true, but their permit does not authorise them to work for you.
What to look at on the document
- The permit type and the employer name, if there is one
- The expiry date, and whether an extension has already been filed
- The conditions and restrictions written on it: some permits exclude specific sectors, or require a medical exam to work with children or in food processing
The case of maintained status
If the person filed their extension before their permit expired, they keep the right to continue working under the same conditions while the file is reviewed. The same conditions: if the expired permit was closed, they still cannot change employer.
An application filed after expiry does not have the same effect. That is why dates matter so much, and why it is better to ask early.
What we do on our side
Our recruiters gather the documents and record what appears on them, without interpreting. Analysis and qualification belong to the legal team. No candidate whose situation is uncertain is presented to an employer before that validation.
If you have a doubt about a candidate, send us the situation. It is exactly the kind of check that takes ten minutes and avoids a compliance problem six months later.