If your Canadian work permit expires, you have exactly 90 days to apply for restoration. If you miss this strict 90-day deadline, you permanently lose your worker status and must stop working immediately. Your only legal options to remain in Canada are to leave the country voluntarily or apply for a highly discretionary Temporary Resident Permit (TRP).
Canada welcomes hundreds of thousands of foreign workers every year, powering industries in cities like Calgary, Edmonton, and Winnipeg. Managing your immigration status is your personal legal responsibility. Unfortunately, due to demanding work schedules or bad advice from unlicensed consultants, many temporary workers accidentally let their work permits expire.
Under Canadian immigration law, if your work permit expires, you are granted a 90-day grace period to apply for “Restoration of Status.” 🚨 However, if you ignore the calendar and miss that 90-day window, the situation becomes an immigration emergency. You are officially in Canada without legal status. If you continue to work, you are committing a federal offence, and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has the authority to arrest you, issue an exclusion order, and deport you from the country.
Step-by-Step Process for Handling an Expired Restoration Period
When the 90-day deadline passes, the standard forms (like IMM 5710) can no longer save you. You have crossed from a routine administrative issue into complex legal territory. Whether you live in Nova Scotia or British Columbia, federal law applies universally. Here is the step-by-step crisis management plan you must follow.
Step 1: Stop Working Instantly
The very first thing you must do is notify your employer and completely cease all work duties. 🚫 You no longer have the legal authorization to earn an income in Canada. If your employer continues to pay you knowing your status has expired, they can face massive fines and lose their ability to hire foreign workers under the LMIA program.
Step 2: Assess Your Immediate Options
You cannot simply reapply for a standard work permit from inside Canada. You basically have two choices. Option A: Pack your bags, leave Canada voluntarily, and attempt to apply for a new work permit from your home country. Option B: Remain in Canada and apply for a Temporary Resident Permit (TRP), which is an exceptional document designed to overcome inadmissibility.
Step 3: Preparing the TRP Application (IMM 5710)
If leaving Canada would cause severe, disproportionate hardship to you or your Canadian family members, your lawyer will prepare a TRP application. 🗂 If you are also requesting an open work permit, you must submit the application using Form IMM 5710 (instead of Form IMM 5708). A TRP is not a standard visa; it is a special pardon from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) forgiving your overstay. You must demonstrate that your need to stay in Canada outweighs the health and safety risks to Canadian society.
Step 4: Providing Proof of Hardship
A TRP is highly discretionary. You must prove why you missed the 90-day deadline. Did you suffer a severe medical emergency? Were you defrauded by a ghost consultant? You must provide sworn affidavits, hospital records, or police reports. You must also prove that returning to your home country would be devastating (e.g., separating you from a Canadian-born child).
Step 5: Submitting and Waiting in Limbo
Once the TRP is submitted, you must wait inside Canada. 🔍 You are not allowed to work or study while the application is processing. You must rely on savings or family support. If the TRP is eventually approved, it will grant you temporary legal status again, and you may simultaneously be issued an open work permit if it was requested and justified in the application.
How Much Does a TRP Application Cost?
Failing to respect IRCC deadlines is a very expensive mistake. Because a TRP requires overcoming legal inadmissibility, attempting this without a Canadian immigration lawyer usually results in a rapid refusal. Here are the expected costs in CAD:
- TRP Government Fee: $246.25 CAD. This fee is non-refundable even if the officer rejects your plea.
- Work Permit Fee (if requested): $155 CAD.
- Biometrics Fee: $85 CAD (if you have not given them in the past 10 years).
- Law Firm Retainer: Preparing a complex TRP brief requires significant legal drafting. Experienced immigration lawyers generally charge between $4,000 and $7,000 CAD for this emergency service.
| Immigration Status | Legal Right to Work? | Required Action |
|---|---|---|
| Maintained (Implied) Status | Yes (Under previous conditions) | Applied before expiry; keep working. |
| Expired (Within 90 Days) | No | Must apply for Restoration & stop working. |
| Expired (Past 90 Days) | No | Must apply for TRP or leave Canada. |
How Long Does the Process Take?
Filing a TRP places you at the absolute mercy of IRCC’s backlog. As of May 2026, TRP applications submitted from inside Canada can easily take between 6 to 12 months to process. During this entire period, you are living in a legal grey zone and cannot earn a Canadian income.
Furthermore, because you are technically out of status, the CBSA could still theoretically execute an arrest and removal order against you while the TRP is processing. 📅 Having a lawyer on record formally communicating with IRCC provides a layer of protection, but it does not grant you the robust protections of formal maintained status.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Can I just go to the US border and ‘flagpole’ for a new permit?
No. If you have been living in Canada without status past the 90-day mark, going to the border (flagpoling) is extremely dangerous. The CBSA officers will immediately see your overstay, deny your application, and likely issue a formal deportation order.
Will an overstay ruin my chances for Permanent Residency (PR)?
Yes, it severely impacts your chances. Most PR pathways, like Express Entry or Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP), require you to hold valid temporary resident status in Canada at the time of application. An overstay makes you legally inadmissible.
What if my employer submitted an LMIA, but it was delayed?
An employer’s delayed Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) does not give you the right to stay past your 90-day restoration period. It is your responsibility to maintain your own legal status, regardless of Service Canada’s processing delays.
Can I apply for a visitor record instead of a TRP?
If the 90-day restoration window has fully closed, you cannot simply apply for a visitor record. You have lost all legal standing to apply for standard extensions. The TRP is the only inland mechanism to cure the overstay.
What if I didn’t know my work permit expired?
Ignorance of the law is never an accepted defence in Canadian immigration. IRCC fully expects every foreign national to know the exact expiry date printed in bold letters on their work permit document.
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