Work permit document checklist
Quick answer
A work permit application generally needs identity documents, evidence of the job and the authority it rests on — an LMIA and a job offer for an employer-specific permit, or the applicable exemption for an LMIA-exempt permit — and proof that you meet the requirements of the occupation. Open work permits rest on your own eligibility rather than on a specific employer.
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Tick whatever is true of you and the situation-dependent items narrow to your circumstances. Nothing is sent anywhere and no contact details are needed.
Generally required
- Valid passportBiographical pages, and every page containing a stamp or visa.
- Digital photo meeting IRCC specifications
- Proof of current immigration statusWhere you are living outside your country of citizenship.
Program-specific
- Job offer letter or signed employment contract
- Labour Market Impact Assessment numberFor employer-specific permits that require an LMIA.
- Offer of employment numberWhere the employer submits an LMIA-exempt offer through the employer portal.
- Evidence of the applicable LMIA exemptionFor example an international agreement or an intra-company transfer.
- Proof of qualifications for the occupationLicences, certificates, trade qualifications.
- Résumé covering your employment history
Situation-dependent
- Current Canadian status documents
- Spouse's open work permit application documents
- Documents for accompanying dependent children
- Business records where the permit rests on your own company
- Previous Canadian work permits and pay records
- Explanation addressing a previous refusal
May be requested
- Immigration medical examination for certain occupations
- Police certificate
- Proof of funds for the initial period in Canada
Where applications most often go wrong
- • Applying for an employer-specific permit without the employer's compliance steps completed
- • Treating an open work permit as available by default
- • Missing occupational licensing that the province requires before you can work
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Copy a plain-text summary with the estimate disclaimer and the official source attached.
This checklist is a preparation aid. The document requirements that govern your application are those on the official IRCC document checklist generated for that application at the time you submit it.
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