Can I work while my restoration application is being processed?
Short answer
In Canada, the authorization to work without a permit while an application is being processed (s. 186(u) of the Regulations) applies to a person who applied for an extension BEFORE their permit expired. Restoration of status under section 182 is a separate procedure, and that authorization is not attached to it.
In detail
Two different provisions apply to two different situations. Section 186(u) speaks of an application made “pursuant to subsection 201(1)” — the renewal of a permit that is still valid — and of a person who has remained in Canada after expiry. It is that combination that allows the person to keep working.
Section 182, by contrast, applies once status has already been lost. It allows the person to ask that status be restored within 90 days. Its text deals with restoration of the status itself and does not carry over the work authorization found in section 186(u).
This distinction is why the date the application was filed matters so much: it determines which of the two provisions is in play.
What to document
The expiry date of the permit, the date the application was filed, and — if you stopped working — the exact date of your last day worked. A dated log of these events makes it possible to reconstruct the sequence precisely.
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
- Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, s. 182 (restoration of status)
- Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, s. 186 (work without a permit)
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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.