Canada announces changes to Spousal Open Work Permit eligibility

Significantly, spouses of students in certain advanced programs—like doctoral, professional, and some master’s programs—will face stricter rules for getting a work permit. For example, only spouses of master’s students in programs that last at least 16 months will be eligible. This is a big shift from previous rules, which were more flexible.

Earlier this year, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) had already made it harder for spouses of international students to get work permits. They limited eligibility to the spouses of students in specific master’s and doctoral programs at Canadian designated learning institutions (DLIs). There were some exceptions for spouses of undergraduates in high-demand fields, but the overall trend has been to tighten the rules.

The new rules also tie into IRCC’s plan to limit the number of study permits issued each year. Master’s and PhD students are now included in a cap for 2025, with 12% of the 437,000 study permits allocated to them. This cap doesn’t apply in 2024, but it shows the government’s increasing focus on controlling the flow of international students.

Minister Miller also announced that these changes will result in about 50,000 fewer SOWPs being issued over the next three years. This is part of a broader government effort to manage the number of temporary residents in Canada.

The changes are not just limited to students’ spouses. New rules will also affect the spouses of foreign workers. Only the spouses of highly skilled workers—such as top-level executives, scientists, engineers, lawyers, professors, and technicians—will qualify for work permits. The government will still allow SOWPs for spouses of workers in industries with critical labor shortages.

In total, these changes are expected to result in about 100,000 fewer SOWPs over the next three years, which could significantly affect how temporary residents live and work in Canada.

These updates are part of a larger effort by IRCC to control the growing number of temporary residents in the country. In addition to the SOWP changes, the government is also capping the number of study permits for international students in 2024 and 2025 to better manage the influx of newcomers.

Minister Miller hinted that more changes may be coming soon. The upcoming Immigration Levels Plan, which will be released by November 1, 2024, will offer more details. This will be the first time temporary resident numbers will be included in the plan, which usually focuses on how many permanent residents Canada will accept in the coming years.

These new measures signal a shift in how Canada handles temporary immigration. While the government used immigration to boost the economy during the pandemic, it now seems to be pulling back as the economy stabilizes. Over 2 million temporary residents came to Canada in 2023, but the government’s goal is to reduce that number from 6.5% of the population to 5% in the next three years.

For international students, their families, and foreign workers, these changes mean that getting a Spousal Open Work Permit—and staying in Canada—might become more difficult.