A bridging open work permit Canada (BOWP) allows work permit holders to continue working while waiting on their permanent residency application results.

The permit holders should be inside Canada and should have applied for their permanent residency under one of these programs:

• Express Entry – CEC, FSTP and FSW
• Any of the Provincial Nominee Programs
• Agri-food Pilot program
• Care worker programs – Home Child-Care Provider Pilot or Home Support Worker Pilot

Eligibility Requirements

Kindly find the BOWP Canada Eligibility Criteria according to the applied Permanent Residency programs:

Express Entry (CEC, FSTP and FSW)

You must:

• Reside in Canada (excluding Quebec)
• Have a valid work permit expiring in or less than four months
• be the principal applicant in your PR application
• have completely submitted your PR application
• should have your acknowledgement of receipt, which is given to you after your PR application submission

Provincial Nominee Programs

• Reside in Canada (excluding Quebec)
• Have no restrictions as a nomination condition
• Have a valid work permit expiring in or less than four months
• be the principal applicant in your PR application
• have completely submitted your PR application
• should have your acknowledgement of receipt, which is given to you after your PR application submission

Care Worker Programs

Home Child-Care Provider Pilot or Home Support Worker Pilot

• Reside in Canada (excluding Quebec)
• Have a minimum of 24 months of qualifiable work experience
• Have at least one of these: Valid Work Permit or; be on implied status or; your eligibility must be restorable
• be approved in principle for your PR application

Agri-Food Pilot Program

• Reside in Canada (excluding Quebec)
• Have a valid work permit expiring in or less than four months
• be the principal applicant in your PR application
• be approved in principle for your PR application

What are the processing time and fees for a BOWP application?

Processing Time

The processing times can normally take between 3-5 months but are subject to change, you can find the current processing times as per your application country here. This time does not include the time taken to complete the Biometrics, this added time would depend on which country you’re applying from and the availability of its facilities.

Fees

Applicants must pay a total of 255$ combining the application and the open work permit holder fee.