Determine your eligibility — Work after graduation

Source: www.canada.ca

Who can apply for a post-graduation work permit?

To get a post-graduation work permit, you must:

• be 18 or older when you apply
• have continuously studied full-time in Canada in a study program at least eight months long
• have a document from your school (transcript, official letter, certificate, etc.) that confirms you completed and passed all your program requirements
• have graduated from a:
  • public post-secondary school, such as a college, trade/technical school or university, or CEGEP in Quebec or
  • private post-secondary school that operates under the same rules as public schools (currently applies only to certain private post-secondary institutions in Quebec) or
  • private secondary or post-secondary school (in Quebec) that offers qualifying programs of 900 hours or longer, leading to a diplôme d’études professionnelles (DEP) or an attestation de spécialisation professionnelle (ASP) or
  • Canadian private school that can legally award degrees under provincial law (for example, Bachelors, Masters or Doctorate degree) but only if you are enrolled in a study programs leading to a degree as authorized by the province
• apply for a work permit within 90 days of when it was confirmed that you completed your program and
• have a valid study permit when you apply for the work permit.

You aren’t eligible to apply for a PGWP if you:

• studied in a program that was less than eight months long
• studied for more than eight months but not continuously (for example, you took a semester off)
• took part in a Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship Program funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC)
• took part in a Government of Canada Awards Program funded by GAC
• had funding from GAC
• took part in the Equal Opportunity Scholarship, Canada-Chile
• took part in the Canada-China Scholars Exchanges Program
• took part in the Organization of American States Fellowships Program
• completed a study program by distance learning either from abroad or from within Canada or
• already had a post-graduation work permit following any other program of study.

How long is a post-graduation work permit valid?

How long the post-graduation work permit is valid for depends on the length of your study program. If your program was:

• less than eight months
  • you aren’t eligible for a PGWP
• more than eight months but less than two years
  • your PGWP may be valid for up to the same length as your study program (for example, if you studied for nine months, a work permit may be issued for up to nine months)
• two years or more
  • a PGWP may be issued for three years
• more than one program
  • a PGWP may be valid for up to three years, for example, if you finished a diploma or degree from an eligible school in Canada, and within the next two years you get a one-year graduate degree or diploma from an eligible school in Canada.