Mark Holthe 0:04
Music. This episode of the Canadian immigration podcast is sponsored by the Canadian immigration Institute, one of the best sources of video content on Canadian immigration to help you navigate your way through the Canadian immigration process. Head on over to the YouTube channel, where there's tons of video content, and you can join mark yes myself in a number of live video streams, Q and A's all designed to help you navigate your way through this crazy Canadian immigration process. When you're done there, like and subscribe and then head on over to the Canadian Immigration institute.com where you can find all those awesome DIY courses that I've been talking about. Thank you, Canadian immigration Institute. You are the sponsor of this amazing little podcast. You
Unknown Speaker 0:59
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Sponsor 1:05
The Canadian immigration process can be complex and frustrating with the Canadian Immigration Department making it virtually impossible to speak to an officer. There are few places to turn to for trusted information. The Canadian immigration podcast was created to fill this void by offering the latest on immigration law, policy and practice. Please welcome ex immigration officer and Canadian immigration lawyer Mark Holthe as he is joined by industry leaders across Canada sharing insight to help you along your way.
Mark Holthe 1:51
Welcome back to another episode of the Canadian immigration podcast. This is episode 157 and it is within our time's up series. This episode is all about applying for bridging open work permits and understanding the distinction between open and closed permits, and basically avoiding the costly mistakes that many people make when they are filing for these bridging open work permits. I'm here with my guest, as always, and co host, Alicia, back when buhery, how are you? Alicia,
Alicia Backman-Beharry 2:23
doing? All right. Mark, and I've been meaning to write this blog for a while, because this is one of the issues that I see, where people come to me after they've already filed their application, after they've been refused that bridging open work permit, and say, Oh, my goodness, I had no idea that I needed, in fact, to have applied for a closed bridging work permit instead of a bridging open work permit. And so this episode is all for that group of people who have filed their PR application, and they are now trying to make sure that they can transition to work permit status while they await their PR processing.
Mark Holthe 3:03
And just to let everyone know, Alicia has written this phenomenal blog post that you can find on our blog within Holthe immigration laws website, Holthe law.com and it is extremely comprehensive. We're going to cover a lot of these things in the podcast today. However, if you're looking for the source and where to find the real meat of our discussion, please head back to our website and find the blog post entitled bridging open work permits versus bridging closed work permits. Picking the wrong one can mean work permit refusal, long title, but oh my goodness, this is one that you're just not going to want to miss. All right, so Alicia, one of the big issues that we're facing right now, within this whole Time's Up series, is the fact that there is very little margin for error, and when people make mistakes now, it can mean the difference between being able to stay in Canada or having to go home. And when we talk about bridging open work permits, the best place to start probably is right from the beginning. So can you explain what a bridging work permit is?
Alicia Backman-Beharry 4:15
And so not everybody is eligible for a bridging open work permit. And I often hear people say, Oh, my work permits expiring. Can't I just get a bridging work permit? Well, no, unless you have actually submitted a application for permanent residence, and there's different types of applications for PR and so you would have had to have been eligible for one of those categories. Have actually received, if it was under Express Entry, your invitation to apply, and have actually filed your eapr, or if you are under what used to be called the paper based applications, you've actually submitted that PR portal application, and you've received your acknowledgement of receipt. So in most cases, you're not even eligible to submit a bridging work permit unless you have. Have finalized your application for PR so it's only that category that we are looking at in terms of, well, maybe you have a bridging open work permit option, or maybe you have a bridging closed work permit option.
Mark Holthe 5:13
All right, okay, so the next question then that we have is, I'll just pull this up here is the eligibility criteria. So maybe you can kind of break down a little bit, you know what? What's within this, this LMIA exempt work permit, this code a 75 into the under the international mobility program. What are the eligibility criteria?
Alicia Backman-Beharry 5:36
Yeah, and, and that's a good point to mark, that we are in the world of LMIA exempt work permits, which is a great big bonus right now, because we know we have those refusals to process, and so it's really difficult for many people to try to extend their work permit through a traditional LMIA, and this might be the only option for them if their employer wants to keep them. So when we're looking at these bridging work permits, the eligibility, just like you said, is under the international mobility program. And so it's under Regulation 205 sub A, and the code, the LMIA exemption code, is a 75 and so when we look at that, we know that we're looking at the regular the immigration refugee protection regulation section 205 A, and the applicant actually has to be inside of Canada and must have valid temporary resident status under erpa section 22 and this is a little bit more complex, because not only do they have to have valid temporary resident status, but they must also have the legal ability to work, either under a valid work permit or have maintained status. So they've actually submitted that application and have maintained their ability to work under Regulation 186 sub u or they have to be eligible to restore their temporary resident status with authorization to work on a work permit, so not just any restoration application to a visitor. So there are increased requirements that the person has to still be in Canada, have valid status under Section 22 and have valid authorization to work. So one
Mark Holthe 7:09
question I have, Alicia, yeah, one question I have. I'll just cut in that. We see a lot people that have are running out of time. Maybe they're waiting on their acknowledgement of receipt for their permanent resident application. Maybe it's a P, and P so they're going through the PR portal is taking a long time, and their work permit is is expired, and so they're in a period of 90 days to restore status. How are you advising people in those circumstances? Because ultimately people are saying, well, I'm going to try to restore my status to a visitor, and we're seeing problems, and others are saying, Okay, well, some people are on visitor status and then are trying to restore to a work permit using, you know, their their acknowledgement of receipt, because they're within, theoretically, that the 90 days. But how are you advising your clients, Alicia, because this is something we see all of the time
Alicia Backman-Beharry 8:05
and and this is a really thorny issue. And so generally, if it's possible to avoid coming down to the wire like this, that is absolutely the preference, because it gets really tricky to try to prove that you have authorization to work and therefore are still eligible for that bridging open work permit. So if you've lost your status, for sure, book a consult, because it is possible that you might not be able to try to restore to a bridging open work permit if you are past your ability to work. So this is something that is, for sure an issue that every single individual who's in that situation would need to reach out and talk to somebody about, yeah,
Mark Holthe 8:47
all right. And sorry to interrupt you, but yeah, please continue.
Alicia Backman-Beharry 8:50
Yeah. And so the other thing, just like I said, was some people, you know, they kind of look at bridging open work permits as this, oh, it's going to save me. Well, it's not going to save you unless you've actually been eligible for one of these PR categories and you've submitted a finalized application. And so this is where it could have been an application to dirty express entry. So FSW, CEC, FST, it could have been a provincial nominee program, nomination, plus you've submitted your finalized PR but there is a big catch with this. And this is where everybody goes wrong. It is so important to check your PNP nomination because, and we will talk about this in a minute, but if there is a restriction on employment in your nomination from the province, you are not eligible for a bridging open work permit. And I will say that again, if there is a restriction on employment in your PNP nomination, do not submit a bridging open work permit application. You'll be refused. So we'll get into that in a second. But also, if you've submitted your PR application under agri food, under one of the home care provisions, and under the Quebec streams, you could. Could potentially be submitting a bridging open work permit application, but this is important too, that just like you said, mark those, those acknowledgement of receipts, those AOR, are coming later and later, because our processing times are getting higher and higher, and so one of the requirements for bridging open work permit is that you've actually passed the completeness check. If it's an Online Express Entry, those are usually the easiest ones, but if it's a paper based through the PR portal application, you've got to wait for that acknowledgement of receipt, and that might be three or four months down the line. And this is where things become pretty problematic. So also keep in mind bridging open work permits must be submitted electronically. No flag polling. It is super important that this application be submitted from inside Canada. Yes,
Mark Holthe 10:45
okay, let's just clear something up right away, and that is regarding ineligibility. So who is not eligible for a bridging open work permit? And maybe that's a good, good place to kind of wrap up this eligibility section.
Alicia Backman-Beharry 11:03
And so people are not eligible if they are exempt from a work permit. So we know that sometimes we have business visitors, or we have some sort of like charitable workers, religious workers, who are exempt from a work permit. If that's the case and you don't need a work permit, you can't apply for a bridging open work permit, anybody applying at a port of entry or a visa office. So it is you're not eligible to apply at the port of entry, and they've really cracked down on this, especially given the political climate right now, things are going to get very not friendly at the border if you're trying to make an application and you're not eligible for it. Spouses and dependent children of the principal applicant are also not eligible for a bridging open work permit. And this is this is now going to be a problem for many people, especially after January 21 2025 we know that almost nobody now is eligible for a spousal open work permit. So that is going to become really difficult if you want to stay in Canada with your spouse while you have your PR finalized. Most of the time, only the principal applicant is eligible for that bridging open work permit, and then the spouse would either have to go on to visitor status, do an application to change their conditions and stay as a visitor, or they would independently have to find an employer to do an LMIA and then apply under an LMIA based work permit, which is pretty tough.
Mark Holthe 12:26
One of the most thorny issues right now Alicia, that we're dealing with is applying for a post grad work permit. So not bridging, but a post grad work permit and a spousal open work permit at the same time. And I just want to highlight to everyone, go to our Canadian immigration Institute YouTube channel. You could be watching here, but if you're listening, go to the YouTube channel. Last Friday, Igor and I did a special live stream focused on spousal open work permits and some of the nasty refusals that we are seeing by IRCC. And I'm not going to dive into that. It's a different topic, but that the harsh realities are, are things that people have to be aware of, especially those, as Alicia indicated, following January 21 when the new spousal open work permit rules kicked in, there are some very, very harsh realities that people must be aware of, especially when people are are really struggling with the timing of extending work permits, or the timing of transitioning from a post grad to, sorry, a study permit to a post grad work permit. So these are issues that people really must pay attention to. So I just will highlight that. And yeah, just draw everyone's attention to that. All right, yes, sorry, Alicia, continue.
Alicia Backman-Beharry 13:41
And the very last category of who's not eligible is if you're inadmissible. And so this is again, where it's really important to make sure that you know there is no misrepresentation. You are not found to have been inadmissible, that there's no criminal inadmissibility, medical inadmissibility, or allegation of misrep that's ongoing. So things to keep in mind in terms of a bridging open work permit, and here's where we're going to transition to okay who needs a bridging closed work permit, and what is going on with provincial nominations. Because we know many, many provincial programs across Canada and the territories have requirements that are employer sponsored PNP programs, and it really matters when you take a look at your nomination letter to see whether there's a restriction on employment. And so this is where I've actually put and it's a good visual. I always go back to the program directives, and I've actually put that little visual in the blog article as well to try to figure out, okay, what is a bridging closed work permit. And this is a circumstance where the province has said, Okay, you're in an employer specific category, a PNP category where the job offer was was required, your employer has to be. COVID by the province to make sure that they are an eligible employer. And once the province has done that, they will issue the nomination letter, and it's going to look like this. And so go back to your nomination letter and take a look, and you will have a table at the top of that nomination letter, all the provinces do it, and exactly Mark you're highlighting that bottom right hand corner, and it says restrictions on employment, and the answer is going to be two words, either yes or no, and this is the word that you need to find, because if there is a restriction on employment, if it says yes, there is a restriction on employment, again, you're not eligible for a bridging open work permit. You must look at the bridging closed work permit provisions. Sometimes people get confused, because you'll see in this table, it also says employer and it has the name of the employer. So sometimes what the provinces do is they write the name of the employer and then they also say yes or no on the restrictions of employment. So keep in mind that even if the employer's name is listed there, if it says there's no restrictions on employment, you're safe, you should be able to file that bridging open work permit, if it has the name of the employer and it says yes, there's a restriction on employment, or even if it doesn't say the name of the employer, but it says there's a restriction on employment, it normally should have the name of employer in that circumstance, then you know you're in the bridging closed work permit scenario. And so this is where, as soon as you know it's a bridging closed work permit, you are locked in. You're stuck with this employer until you get your PR and that's on purpose. That is because the province wants to make sure that you continue to work for the employer that they have vetted. And normally those employers have to prove that they have a certain operating revenue, that they have a certain number of Canadian employees, that they've been an active business in the province for two years, or sometimes a little bit less than two years, but they have a business number, and the province is pretty sure that they're a legitimate employer. And so if people want to change their employment part way through their PR, this is where I get a lot of questions, and where it is risky, because it is possible that if you try to change employers, it is possible that the province will not change their nomination letter. And we're going to start talking about the other things that are required for a bridging closed work permit, which would be a regulation 204 C letter. And so it's important to keep in mind that when we're talking about bridging closed work permits, we are no longer talking about regulation 205 sub A. We are now talking about regulation 204 sub c, and this is where specifically the authorization to give a bridging closed work permit comes from in the legislation, and it requires the province to also write a letter. So the province needs to say, Okay, well, there's an active nomination, and we have written a letter. We think that it is an urgent economic requirement for this person to be working prior to becoming a permanent resident in our province, the job is genuine, and we believe it'll create economic benefits. The employment is full time, and the wages and working conditions are sufficient. So that'll be literally in your R, 204, C letter from the province. So in addition to having that restriction on employment, you need that R, 204, C letter from the province and and this is the kicker, you also need your employer to go through and file an application under the employer portal, so the offer of employment must be submitted by your employer. The employer has to pay that $230 employer compliance fee. You've got to get that a number and the O number before you can submit this bridging closed work permit application.
Mark Holthe 18:51
All right, okay, let's transition to these employment restrictions. So I know we've talked a little bit about this, and it might be helpful to just reiterate one more time the difference between the two. So practically speaking, when you are filing an application for your bridging open work permit, that type of an application will, as Alicia indicated, indicate there's no restrictions on employment, and you can simply submit the fee for the work permit and the open work permit fee. And you do not need to have a registration by your employer. If you have one for within the employer portal for this a series number that you need then to file your work permit. However, if there are restrictions on employment that the Provincial Nominee Program has imposed on you. Then in those circumstances, you need that 204 C letter, plus you need the employer to register your job offer in the portal, and then they will give you an A series number that you enter into your 5710, Permit application form and include all the other supporting documentation. And this is where we see a lot of problems with people when they submit just the 5710 form, as if it's an open work permit. And the reality is, they have restrictions on employment because of the PNP. I think we've seen a lot of that, haven't we? Alicia, yeah,
Alicia Backman-Beharry 20:22
and I mean, it's it's heartbreaking for the applicants, because the processing times are so long once they get the refusal back from IRCC saying you were never eligible for a bridging open work permit in the first place, it's probably too late for them to now go back and try to get the letter from their employer to get the employer portal offer to get maybe an updated two or 4c letter from the province if it's expired, and to try to make sure that they save their ability to work and everything can fall down like a house of cards when this happens, because most of these P and P programs require you to continue to work and be in the province With status, and so if you lose your ability to work, and you lose your status, then it could jeopardize your entire PR application Absolutely.
Mark Holthe 21:09
And Alicia and I are kind of covering this at a surface level, but please go to the post, the blog post once again, you'll see we've got detailed, you know, criteria for submitting the application these closed, closed work permit applications that are supported by the 204 C letters that we've been talking about. So make sure that you definitely take a close look at these requirements, and of course, follow the specific instructions within the document checklist, which is challenging Alicia, because these types of work permits are not clearly laid out by IRCC when you're trying to apply for them, so you literally have to go to the program delivery instructions. You have to look at the document checklist. You see what pops up in your own online checklist when you generate the the application portal, all of those things you're pulling from all these different locations. But there are critical things that you absolutely must have. And, oh boy, I see officers just salivating when they see, say, for example, a 204 C letter. Whoops, a 204 C letter is missing, or the employer hasn't secured the registration of the job offer. And the employment portal, which registrates, you know, which, which generates this a number. So it's a sad state of affairs we're in right now, but people absolutely have to be careful. All right, so who's not eligible for a bridging closed work permit? Alicia,
Alicia Backman-Beharry 22:31
yeah, and this is something I think both you and I have seen more recently. Mark, with consults where people are desperate and their employers start to get cold feet, and they were fine supporting the PNP application when that person was on, you know, an open PGWP, where they were working as a post grad, and the employer didn't really have to do anything. They didn't have to make sure that they were under employer compliance for imp, because it was an open PGWP. But as soon as people have filed their PR application under the province and their work permit is expiring, it requires the employer now to step up and to file that employer portal offer under the imp. And some employers get cold feet and say, oh my goodness, I don't want to have to do anything. Or they don't understand they haven't created an employer account under the employer portal. Maybe they're worried they're going to get audited, because, yes, you fall under a compliance regime as soon as you have a bridging closed work permit because your employer is named on there. And so as soon as that happens, I've had people come to me and say, My employer won't support me anymore, and it is really tough for the applicant in that situation. And I hope employers will spend some time and do some due diligence and realize look at as long as you're following Employment Standards codes, as long as you are not abusing your employee, you're properly paying them, you're doing what you said you would do. It's important for employers not to be two faced. It's important for employers, if they have said to the province, we're going to support this employee, that they not turn around and just drop them when it comes to the bridging closed work permit stage. And yes, the employer has to do this. I've had some employees say to me, Well, can I just do it for them? Can I pay the $230 employer compliance fee? Can I submit this? No, no, the employees cannot do that. If this is an employer portal through the employer's business number and the employer authorized representative for the employer has to be filing that employer compliance offer and paying that $230 compliance fee, so you're not eligible for a closed bridging work permit if your employer won't do that. So if the employer will not file the employer portal, then it's game over.
Mark Holthe 24:59
All right? Well. Let's transition to one of the questions also that we get very frequently in our consultations. And let's face it, Alicia, sometimes things just aren't working out with your employer. And when we have a PR, you know, PR processing times through the portal that I think are about 20 months right now, approximately as of, you know, February the fifth, 2025 when we're recording this episode, they're right around 20 months. And sometimes employers and employees, the relationship kind of sours a bit for a number of reasons. And an employee comes to us and says, Oh, I've got this better offer that I think with another company that I want to switch to. And so they ask us, can I change employers? And so what are your thoughts on that topic? Alicia, because this is one, if you're in this situation, absolutely you want to book a consult so we can Canvas everything with you, because it depends upon the stage in which you're at. But what are your thoughts
Alicia Backman-Beharry 26:00
exactly? Mark. And so these are the key questions. It's a million dollar question. Can I change my employers halfway through a P and P application? And you're absolutely right. It is a timing issue. So where are you exactly in this application process? And it's even more complicated now in provinces like Alberta, where you have this worker EOI. And so you've had that worker EOI sitting there saying that you're not misrepresenting. You have an employer, you have a job offer, and then all of a sudden you want to change it. And so it's important to know, well, have you actually submitted an application? Did you get a notification of interest from the province? Did you submit an application? Did the province come back and actually approve your application. Do you have a nomination letter? Take a look at that nomination letter. Do you have restrictions on employment? If you do have restrictions on employment, then it is very difficult to change employers, because just like we talked about, those employers have been vetted by the province, and they are sometimes the province actually has a designated employer list where they will only work with those employers. So it's important to make sure they're meeting all the program eligibility. For example, in Alberta, you have to have employers who have revenue over a certain amount, or they've been in operation for a certain number of years, or they have a certain number of employees. Ontario has similar provisions as well. So it's important that you take a look at the new employer and see if they meet all the eligibility criteria for the program under which you are nominated. And then it's important for you to figure out if the province will actually change their nomination. So maybe they will, maybe they won't, and if they won't change their nomination, if you change employers, you might lose your PR application. And
Mark Holthe 27:44
another thing too Alicia is there's a lot of occupation or industry specific streams, as sometimes people will be working in one knock in one occupation that is considered to be in demand, and the position they want to change to is no longer within that same stream. And obviously, if you have any hope of the province being willing to to continue forward with the nomination or continue to support it in the vast majority of situations, if it's any kind of an occupation in demand situation, or a particular stream, the occupation you're moving from needs to be the same occupation that you're looking to assume. But I never, ever make these decisions Alicia, unless one I can get some form of confirmation from the province, which, right now is really, really difficult to get someone to say, yeah, it's okay to change. We would routinely do this in the past, and have an ability to dialog with program officers and confirm that they didn't have an issue changing. And it's so ironic. I'll pull up, you know, a little bit of historical information from Alberta. And I remember when Brad trefan ran the program. I had many conversations with him when I was chair of our local section in the Alberta South CBA section, and I developed a little bit of a relationship with Him, and we had some pretty candid conversations. And back before the first global recession, I guess it would have been 2008 2009 around there. I remember having, or maybe it was even 2010 I can't remember when he took over for Larry panna. I can't remember his name was. Anyways, when Brad Jan, he was looking for a way to free individuals up so they weren't, you know, kind of indentured servants to their employers. And so the whole creation of the Alberta opportunity stream was designed at that time. It wasn't released until later, to allow employees to have flexibility so they wouldn't be stuck with an employer who wasn't treating them well. And it's so amazing that now things have come full circle. And. To the point at which, if an employer is not willing to provide, you know, the employer declaration forms and and show direct support and be willing to have their you know, their their financials and and their corporate compliance audited or pre vetted by the Alberta Vance immigration program officers, an employee can't, they can't apply, you know? And so it's amazing how things have changed, and these things are so circular. And when there is a tight, tight market, when the number of people wanting to apply far outstrips the number of spots available, then the provinces start to look for reasons and ways to reduce the number of people that are are applying, and this is one of them. So these restrictions on employment now has become a very, very key factor within a lot of the PNPs across the country. Yeah,
Alicia Backman-Beharry 30:59
and it's so important mark, because just like you said, circumstances change, and we know that there's a volatile job market, and one of the things is that you can't just let it fly under the radar if you lose your job. And so all the PNPs, if you look at the fine print when you're filing your application, it says, you know, you have a positive obligation to notify us in the event of a material change, and no longer working for your employer is a material change in circumstances. And so this is where not only would you have to notify the PNP, but you also have to notify IRCC. And keep in mind the province can pause or revoke a nomination, so they can also do an investigation into the employer. So there's a number of things that could happen, and if the province has paused or revoked a nomination, that's going to, of course, give you trouble if you then try to go and apply for a bridging closed work permit. So be careful of misrep make sure that you are properly informing immigration and the P and P if you do lose your job,
Mark Holthe 32:06
all right, okay, so key differences, I think we've talked a little bit about these already, between the bridging open and the bridging closed work permits, but Alicia, do you want to just kind of hit on the high points quickly, just as a summary,
Alicia Backman-Beharry 32:21
and I tried to lay these out in the table, just so there's a little bit of a visual. So if we pop back over to the article, you can see, okay, well, there's a bridging closed work permit on the right hand side. There's the bridging open on the left. And so is there a restriction on employment? If we're looking at a PNP, if there is a restriction on employment, you're in the bridging closed world eligibility streams. Bridging opens are for other types of applications, not just PNPs, but also apply to PNPs, where it's a no restriction on employment generally that bridging open work permit, you can work for any employer, in any location, in any job. It's an open work permit, which is great. You have lots of flexibility. Bridging closed, not so you are tied to that employer in that noc, in that location with that province, so be careful, and then when to submit them. And this is, you know, a very brief overview. And just like Mark said, you know, this article is for legal information. It is not legal advice. Please book a consult. These are super complex situations that have strong and big ramifications for the rest of your life and ability to work. So make sure that you speak with a lawyer. But you know, sometimes you can submit a bridging closed work permit prior to your PR application, but only if your nomination has been issued and is still valid. So those are, you know, this is a tricky situation. Spouses, again, unfortunately, under a bridging open work permit, there's not a lot of opportunity for spouses. The one silver lining is that if you have a bridging closed work permit situation and you're transitioning to PR, then they can usually apply for that LMI, exempt open work permit, but the principal applicant still has to be making sure that they are getting their work permit as well. And so this is one of the only exceptions where you could have a spouse apply, but make sure to cross reference this with the January 21 2025 updates. And then the last one is why we have these two things. And so technically, the bridging closed and the bridging open are there to try to make sure that people still maintain their ability to work up until they get their permanent residence. If these things are not working right, if your employer refuses to do that bridging closed work permit, employer portal of support, then your only other option is to see if you could possibly get the employer to do an LMIA. But if they're not doing an LMIA, or if they're not doing the employer portal, it's unlikely they would do an LMIA. A so the reason that we have these bridging open and bridging closed is to usually avoid having to do the LMIA process. If you're not eligible for bridging open and you could find another employer who's willing to do an LMIA based work permit. That could be an option, but remember, you can't be under a PNP where you have a restriction on employment.
Mark Holthe 35:21
All right. Well, we have zipped through this pretty well. And I think as far as Q and A's, you know, if I'm an individual that is asking you in a consult, Alicia, I'm in a situation and I'm saying, Okay, well, I'm, I'm looking to try to do this on my own. What are the main things. Or can you can you list one or two things that are the most common mistakes that really cost people dearly when they make them? What would you highlight? Yeah,
Alicia Backman-Beharry 35:53
and it's literally, if you're on a PNP, have you gone and looked at your nomination letter, and is there a restriction on employment. If there is no restriction on employment, then make sure you follow the program instructions for the bridging open work permit. You have to select bridging open work permit. You've got to pay that open work permit fee in addition to your regular application fee, and you still have to prove temporary intent. If you've got a restriction on employment, you're under that closed bridging work permit scenario. Then make sure your R, 204, C letter is valid. You have it issued from the province, and make sure you've spoken with your employer and that they are actually going to file that employer portal offer so that you get that a number and the O number well in advance, and you have all your supporting documentation. Make sure that when you submit that application package online, that you also prove that you're qualified to do the job, and that you make sure that you prove your experience and your resume and the fact that you have the education and the work experience in order to meet the requirements of that job. Yes,
Mark Holthe 36:57
well, everyone, I hope this has been helpful for you. I know Alicia has put a lot of time into drafting that blog, so if you haven't had a chance, please get over there and check it out. These are unprecedented times within immigration, and every day we have consultations with people that our heart goes out to you guys, this is a horrible situation if you're on a work permit right now and you are looking for Pathways to permanent residence, and that was always your hope and your dream. At times, Alicia and I can point things out to you that maybe you had not considered. We always recommend that you reach out to us sooner versus later, because often when we do get consultations booked with us, it's kind of a last ditch effort, and there may have been things that could have been done if people reached out to us sooner. We are also actively working with a number of clients on all forms of immigration, including filing Express Entry applications, PNPs, lots of spousals agencies. There's a whole host of different options that are available if eligibility is there. And one of the things I think Alicia, that we pride ourselves in more than anything else, is honesty and integrity, and if we truly feel like you have no pathway forward, we will tell you that because the last thing in the world we want is individuals burning up the last of their savings that they could use to help resettle back in their home country, or closing off future opportunities by choosing to remain out of status or legal in Canada, and so the time's up. Series that we have created, there is a just a series of wonderful episodes that we encourage you to go back right from the beginning, and you know what to do when your work permit is expiring. Was the first one. And we worked through the cost of staying overstaying. We talked about agencies, we talked about refugee applications, we've talked about a whole host of different things, all designed to give you the information you need to make the right decision, but at the end of the day, we're here for you to support you through a consultation, to give you advice, or to literally help you submit and prepare and submit your application. So thank you for tuning in to another episode. There will be more to come. If you have ideas, don't hesitate to reach out to us and let us know if you have any specific questions that you think would be a good topic for the podcast, or you just want to join us. And Alicia and I are five minutes late right now recording this for our live stream. So we're going to slide over, and we're going to do that right now every Wednesday morning at 10am on the Canadian immigration Institute YouTube channel, you can find us, and you can see we're just getting ready to queue up right here for our live stream that's going to be launching in one minute's time after we wrap up this recording. But thanks so much for for watching. Make sure you subscribe to the podcast and to the YouTube channel and and reach out if you need help. Thanks, Alicia, thanks Mark.
Sponsor 39:47
Thank you for listening to the Canadian immigration podcast. Your trusted source for information on Canadian immigration law, policy and practice. If you would like to book a legal consultation, please visit. At WWW dot Holthe law.com, you can also find lots more helpful information on our Canadian immigration Institute YouTube channel, where you can join mark on one of his many Canadian immigration live Q and A's See you soon, and all the best as you navigate this crazy world we call Canadian immigration. You.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
