A spouse open work permit allows the spouse of certain temporary Canadian permit holders to work anywhere in Canada, for any employer, with few restrictions.

Individuals who have applied to be sponsored by their spouse, or those whose spouses are in Canada on a study or work permit may be able to apply for a spousal open work permit. The requirements for applying for a spousal open work permit depend on the type of status your spouse has in Canada. For information, use the table below:

In order to be eligible to apply for a spousal sponsorship open work permit, a foreign national must have applied for permanent residency sponsorship from within Canada through the in Canada stream of the spousal sponsorship program.

• If you have not submitted your sponsorship application: The sponsorship, permanent residence, and open work permit applications may all be submitted together in a single envelope in hard copy. Ensure that all supporting documentation and required proof of payments for all applications are included. The applications should be submitted to the Case Processing Centre in Mississauga (CPC-M), Ontario.
• If your permanent residence application is submitted but has not yet received approval in principle: The open work permit application may be submitted in hard copy to the Case Processing Centre in Vegreville (CPC-V), Alberta.
• If your permanent residence application has been approved in principle: The open work permit application may be submitted online or in hard copy to the Case Processing Centre in Vegreville (CPC-V), Alberta.

Approval in principle (AIP) means that a person’s permanent residence application has been cleared by IRCC as meeting the eligibility requirements, but the application has not yet passed through processing for medical exams and security/background checks. While this means the application has successfully passed through several stages of processing, permanent residency may still be denied after receipt of the AIP.

A foreign national must have valid status in Canada (visitor, student, worker, etc.) in order to submit a work permit application at the same time as their permanent residence application. If an applicant is out of status in Canada, they must wait until their permanent residence application has received approval in principle to submit their work permit application.

In order to qualify for a spousal open work permit, you must meet certain minimum requirements, including:

• Must be in a genuine relationship with a qualifying foreign national principal applicant, permanent resident, or citizen;
• Must be eligible to apply as the spouse of a qualifying foreign national, or as an in Canada sponsorship applicant (see above); and
• Are not criminally or medically inadmissible to Canada

Additional criteria will vary depending on the category of SOWP you are applying under.

The processing time for a spousal open work permit will depend on what type of permit your spouse applied for. To check the approximate processing time for a particular application, visit Canada’s dedicated webpage.

A SOWP is tied to the permit of the spouse, or ‘lead applicant’, and will only be valid for as long as the lead applicant’s permit. If your SOWP expires, you will need to reapply based on your spouse’s permit.

The fee for a spouse open work permit is $255 CAD – $155 for the processing fee, and $100 CAD for the open work permit holder fee.

A spousal open work permit can only be issued for as long as the lead applicant’s permit. If the applicant’s passport is expiring soon, it will not be issued beyond the validity of their passport.

There is no minimum amount of time that an applicant must wait before applying for a permit after getting married.

Holders of spouse open work permits may work anywhere in Canada, for any employer, with limited restrictions.

While applying for a spousal open work permit, dependent children may also accompany the permit holder by applying for a visitor record.