Work Permit Refused After 10 Months of PSW Experience – Can I Complete 2 Months Abroad and Still Qualify for Healthcare Category PR?

[Femyna]

I applied for a work permit extension in February 2026, but it was refused on June 1, 2026. I have gained 10 months of work experience in NOC 33102 (PSW/Nurse Aide) since August 2025 and am currently 2 months short of completing one year of experience.

If I return to Sri Lanka and complete the remaining 2 months of work experience in the same NOC occupation, will I be eligible for permanent residence under the Healthcare category? Can my Canadian experience and foreign work experience be combined to meet the 12-month requirement, and will the work experience gained in Sri Lanka be counted?

OR

Can I accept an ITA if I receive one, submit all my documents, and then apply for a Bridging Open Work Permit while completing the remaining two months of work experience needed to reach one year?

 

[canuck78]

I applied for a work permit extension in February 2026, but it was refused on June 1, 2026. I have gained 10 months of work experience in NOC 33102 (PSW/Nurse Aide) since August 2025 and am currently 2 months short of completing one year of experience.

If I return to Sri Lanka and complete the remaining 2 months of work experience in the same NOC occupation, will I be eligible for permanent residence under the Healthcare category? Can my Canadian experience and foreign work experience be combined to meet the 12-month requirement, and will the work experience gained in Sri Lanka be counted?

OR

Can I accept an ITA if I receive one, submit all my documents, and then apply for a Bridging Open Work Permit while completing the remaining two months of work experience needed to reach one year?

The one year will not be considered Canadian work experience but would be considered HC experience although I would make sure to have very good documentation and would personally work longer than 2 months. You would need to have already completed the 1 year of work experience to qualify for the ITA and you don’t qualify for a BOWP given that you already applied and were denied for the extension you didn’t qualify for. Your only option is to remain in Canada as a visitor through attempting to restore your status to visitor (not sure why that would make sense and may be denied) or return home and try to gain more experience and apply for PR from abroad. Assume you stopped working as soon as you got the refusal.