Company going bankrupt - currently LMIA Closed Work Permit, is there a way to transition to Open Work Permit?

[mig_akira]

Hello. I'm a software developer, I came to Canada about 3 years ago, and started studying at a college with a Study Permit and a Part-Time Work Permit. My wife came with me, with a full-time open work permit.

I was hired and had my visa sponsored by a company, which granted me a LMIA based closed work permit. I left the college to work full-time for this company for the last 1 year and a half. My income is around $105,000 a year.

I was going to ask for the company to sponsor my PR in April, however COVID-19 hit us, and now the company is in risk of going bankrupt. If that happens, my work visa allows me to stay in the country until December, but I wouldn't be able to work anywhere, since it's a closed work permit.

I read that one option would be to "transition to a open-work permit". But I found no information on how to do this, so I think it's not really a possibility. Is that right?

If it comes for me to get another closed work permit from another company, will it take me as long as it took me the first time? (around 6 or 8 months)? Or since I already had a permit once, this could help expedite the process?

Thank you!

 

[canuck78]

Hello. I'm a software developer, I came to Canada about 3 years ago, and started studying at a college with a Study Permit and a Part-Time Work Permit. My wife came with me, with a full-time open work permit.

I was hired and had my visa sponsored by a company, which granted me a LMIA based closed work permit. I left the college to work full-time for this company for the last 1 year and a half. My income is around $105,000 a year.

I was going to ask for the company to sponsor my PR in April, however COVID-19 hit us, and now the company is in risk of going bankrupt. If that happens, my work visa allows me to stay in the country until December, but I wouldn't be able to work anywhere, since it's a closed work permit.

I read that one option would be to "transition to a open-work permit". But I found no information on how to do this, so I think it's not really a possibility. Is that right?

If it comes for me to get another closed work permit from another company, will it take me as long as it took me the first time? (around 6 or 8 months)? Or since I already had a permit once, this could help expedite the process?

Thank you!

There is no option to transition to an OWP.

 

[mig_akira]

There is no option to transition to an OWP.

Thank you for your reply! Yes, that's what I thought... I saw that misleading information on this site, https://www.cicnews.com/2020/04/staying-in-canada-after-losing-your-job-0414211.html#gs.8o4gch, where it says:

"What if my work permit was dependent on my job?
Foreign nationals with employer-specific work permits, also called “closed work permits,” who lose their job can stay in Canada legally until their work permit status expires. However, they are not permitted to work for anyone else in Canada.

If this applies to you, and you want to start a new job, you will need to qualify for a new closed work permit or transition to an open work permit."

Which is wrong. In this case, the only option would be to get a new closed work permit then. Will the processing times of a new job offer be the same (it took around 3 months for the company to get the LMIA, and another 3 or 4 months for me to get my permit approved the first time).

Thanks again!

 

[canuck78]

Thank you for your reply! Yes, that's what I thought... I saw that misleading information on this site, https://www.cicnews.com/2020/04/staying-in-canada-after-losing-your-job-0414211.html#gs.8o4gch, where it says:



Which is wrong. In this case, the only option would be to get a new closed work permit then. Will the processing times of a new job offer be the same (it took around 3 months for the company to get the LMIA, and another 3 or 4 months for me to get my permit approved the first time).

Thanks again!

CIC news is not a government website. Some people may have a spouse who is studying, who is a PR or on a closed work permit. Those people could apply for an OWP if they lost their job.

 

[steaky]

Why don't you talk to your employer to avoid the company going bankrupt? Any thoughts of offering things like lowering your salary to help company's survival?