A new public policy has been put in place by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) in recognition of the challenges faced by temporary residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, temporary residents in Canada will now have until the end of the year 2020 to submit their application for a restoration of status.

Individuals who are currently in Canada and whose status as a student, worker, or visitor expired after January 30, 2020 may benefit from this new policy. Prior to its implementation, they were only provided with 90 days from the date they lose their temporary resident status to apply to extend their stay in the country.

This policy will also allow former work permit holders who are applying for an employer-specific work permit to work as they await a decision on their application for restoration if they have:

• a job offer;
• submitted a work permit application that is supported by a Labor Market Impact Assessment (LMIA) or an LMIA-exempt offer of employment; and
• notified IRCC through the process set up for eligible foreign nationals.

Directly retrieved from: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/notices/restoration-extension.html