Can I change employers while my extension is being processed?
Short answer
In Canada, permission to work while an extension is being processed requires you to keep complying with the conditions set out on your permit, other than the expiry date (s. 186(u) of the Regulations). If the permit names an employer, a position or a work location, working somewhere else falls outside those conditions.
In detail
The wording of paragraph 186(u) is explicit: the person must have “continued to comply with the conditions set out on the expired work permit, other than the expiry date”. The only condition set aside is the date. All the others remain.
In practical terms, a closed permit (tied to a named employer) does not become an open permit because an extension application is being processed. An open permit, by contrast, does not tie you to a specific employer, and the question does not arise in the same way.
It is also worth noting that the protection in paragraph (u) is attached to an application made under subsection 201(1) — that is, an application to renew the existing permit. An application for a different permit is a different application.
What to document
A copy of your current permit showing its exact conditions (employer, occupation, location), the nature of the application you filed, and your employment dates with each employer. If a question comes up later, what will be examined is the comparison between the conditions on the permit and your employment dates.
Put your facts in writing, free. Writing your version down early, keeping your documents dated and preparing your questions for a lawyer: the tool is there to document, never to advise.
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Official sources
Related questions
- Can I leave Canada while my extension application is being processed?
- My permit expired and I did nothing what can I do?
- How long do I have to apply to restore my status?
- Can I work while my restoration application is being processed?
- What do I have to show to have my status restored?
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What this page is not
This is general legal information about the law of Quebec and Canada, dated and sourced. It is not legal advice, not a strategy, and not a prediction about the outcome of a case. In Quebec, only lawyers and notaries may give legal advice (Act respecting the Barreau du Québec, ss. 128 and 133). Laws and amounts change: the official source always prevails over us.