How to Apply for a Work Permit in Canada: LMIA, Open Permits, Fees and Steps (2026)

To get a work permit in Canada, you usually need a job offer from a Canadian employer, a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) or an LMIA exemption, then an online application to IRCC with a $155 fee, your biometrics and your documents. The "work visa" many people search for does not exist under that name: the document that authorizes you to work is called a work permit, and the visa or travel authorization that lets you enter the country is issued along with it. Here are the steps, the two main families of permits, the costs, the 2025-2026 changes, and how this permit fits into the path to permanent residence and then citizenship.

Closed or open permit: the first question

A closed work permit, known as employer-specific, lets you work for a single employer, in a specific job and location. It is the classic permit, obtained through a job offer. An open work permit lets you work for almost any employer in Canada, with no prior offer. It is reserved for defined situations: spouse of certain skilled workers or students, graduate of a Canadian institution (post-graduation work permit), permanent residence applicant under certain programs, vulnerable worker, among others. Since January 2025, open permits for spouses have been restricted to spouses of workers in management or highly skilled positions and to spouses of students in long master's or doctoral programs.

Step 1: the job offer and the LMIA

Everything starts with the employer. To hire a foreign worker, they generally have to request a Labour Market Impact Assessment from Employment and Social Development Canada. The LMIA shows that no Canadian or permanent resident was available for the job; it costs $1,000 per position, paid solely by the employer, and requires the job to have been advertised for at least four weeks. Processing takes weeks or months depending on the stream, high-wage or low-wage, whose thresholds are set by province and revised regularly. Since 2024, low-wage stream applications are refused in metropolitan areas where the unemployment rate is 6% or higher.

Many positions are LMIA-exempt under the International Mobility Program: CUSMA professionals from the United States or Mexico, intracompany transfers, free trade agreements, permits tied to a significant benefit to Canada, International Experience Canada youth, researchers, among others. The employer then submits the offer through IRCC's Employer Portal and pays a $230 compliance fee. The offer of employment number they receive is the document you attach to your application.

Step 2: your work permit application

• Create an IRCC account and complete the application online; paper applications are the exception.
• Gather your documents: valid passport, job offer and LMIA or exempt offer number, proof of your qualifications and experience, digital photo, proof of funds if requested, and depending on the case a medical exam or police certificate.
• Pay the fees: $155 processing, plus $100 for an open permit and $85 for biometrics ($170 maximum per family).
• Give your biometrics at a visa application centre, within 30 days of the instruction letter.
• Wait for the decision: from a few weeks to several months depending on the country of application and the type of permit; IRCC's processing times tool gives the current estimate.

If you are already in Canada with valid status, you can apply from inside the country, and in some cases work as soon as you receive the acknowledgement while awaiting the decision. If you are abroad, the letter of introduction received on approval is shown to the border officer, who prints the permit on arrival. Eligible American and Mexican citizens applying for a CUSMA permit can even complete the whole process at the port of entry.

What a work permit is not

A work permit is a temporary status, usually valid for one to three years, renewable as long as the conditions are met. It gives neither permanent residence, nor the right to vote, nor automatic access to provincial health coverage, which depends on each province and often on the length of the permit. It is also tied to its condition: losing your job on a closed permit means applying for another one or changing status before expiry. Finally, it only half counts toward citizenship: each day spent in Canada as a temporary worker is worth half a day in the 1,095-day calculation, up to a maximum of 365 days, as our article on the physical presence requirement explains.

From work permit to permanent residence

This is what most work permits are for: building skilled Canadian experience, the most sought-after currency in immigration programs. After one year of full-time experience in a skilled position, you become eligible for the Canadian Experience Class under Express Entry, and provincial nominee programs increasingly favour workers already employed by a local employer. The 2026-2028 Immigration Levels Plan targets 380,000 new permanent residents a year, with a growing share reserved for people already in Canada. Our guide on how to get permanent residence in Canada describes these routes.

Once you are a permanent resident, the countdown to citizenship starts for real: 1,095 days of presence over five years, counting your work permit days as half days, then the application, the test and the oath, described in our guide on how to become a Canadian citizen. A worker who arrived on a permit in 2024 and became a permanent resident in 2026 can thus aim for citizenship around 2028. The vocabulary of these statuses, landed immigrant, permanent resident, first-generation immigrant, is untangled in our article landed immigrant, permanent resident, first generation: who is what.

The mistakes that get an application refused

• A job offer with neither an LMIA nor an exempt offer number: without one of the two, the application is not accepted.
• A job that does not match your profile: degree or experience out of step with the intended occupation.
• Missing funds or return ticket when the officer doubts you will leave Canada when the permit expires.
• A missing medical exam for jobs in health, education or child care, or after a six-month stay in certain countries.
• Misrepresentation, even unintentional, which carries a five-year ban.

Key takeaways

• No "work visa" in Canada: a work permit, closed (job offer + LMIA or exemption) or open (defined situations).
• Cost: $155 per person, $100 more for an open permit, $85 for biometrics; the $1,000 LMIA is paid by the employer.
• Apply online in your IRCC account; at the border for CUSMA professionals.
• A temporary status that half counts toward citizenship; the real springboard is Canadian experience toward permanent residence.

Already a permanent resident and approaching 1,095 days? The citizenship test is the step you can prepare right now, for free, with our practice exams and chapter quizzes.