I applied for a new work permit with my caregiver application. Do I need to renew my current work permit?

If you had a valid work permit when you applied for permanent residence (PR) in one of the caregiver pilots, you may have maintained status. This applies to the Home Child Care Provider and Home Support Worker Pilots.

You have maintained status if you

• applied for a work permit with your PR application before your initial work permit expired
• stay in Canada until we make a decision on the new work permit application

You don’t need to renew your current work permit if you keep working for the same employer and in the same job. But you may want to renew your current work permit separately from your PR application if you can.

PR applications take longer to process and the COVID-19 pandemic has caused more delays. This affects when we can issue the work permit related to your PR application. Even though you will have maintained status, it may be harder to get some government services or benefits.

If we refuse your PR application, reject it for being incomplete, or return it for being over that year’s cap, we’ll return the related work permit application as well.

If this happens

• you’ll lose your maintained status
• if you’re not eligible to restore your status, you’d have to leave Canada

Find out more about how to extend or change the conditions on your work permit. We’ve also put a public policy in place to help you change jobs or employers.