In April, Fraser introduced a new measure for international graduates holding PGWP to apply for fresh Open work Permits allowing them to continue working in Canada. Sean Fraser stated that technical issues have led to such a delay.
He had initially talked about a new Open Work Permit that would allow the students with expiring PGWP to apply for a new one. They will be able to acquire a work permit with 18 months of validity. This condition will apply to those candidates whose PGWP expires between September 2021 and December 2022.
This measure was an attempt to compensate those PGWP holders who didn’t get the opportunity to receive an ITA for permanent residency in Canada during the long pause of the CEC. Per normal conditions, the candidates would have applied for CEC and attained a Bridging Open Work Permit (BOWP) while the application was being processed.
Being unable to apply for a fresh Open Work Permit, the PGWP holders faced several challenges, such as losing a job, the condition of leaving the country, applying for a separate work permit, and breaking the law of continuous work in the country.
A meeting between immigration ministers of all the provinces and Fraser discussed the main reason behind the delay. He confirmed that the delay was majorly due to an outdated tech system that was to be replaced.
He further explained that the solution they wanted to implement wasn’t practically aligned with the current technology system. However, he claimed that a successful policy was found and an announcement related to that would soon be out.
He also claimed that they would soon announce a new and timely way of delivering the soon-to-be-expiring post-graduate work permit holders with the potential to stay and continue working in Canada.
Although, Fraser didn’t confirm whether the new Open Work Permit’s applicants through their implied status will be able to work while their new work permit request was processed.
He said he was eager to allow people to start working as soon as possible under the final policy post their application submission.
He stated that the policy details will be released next week, making them stay and work in the country.
IRCC gave a fair idea of over 50,000 PGWP holders benefiting from the policy out of a total of 95,000 work permits that will be expiring in 2022.
