hi everyone,

i have a question regarding the possibility of changing the employer on the one-year post-graduation work permit. i havent applied one yet but am planning to get one soon. before i make a decision and commit to this one company for a year, i wanted to find an official answer whether or not i can switch my employer under the post-graduation work permit during the one-year term. i heard different answers, one friend told me, "You can work for different employers within the one-year period, providing the job meets the initial requirements of the Post Graduation program." however, my intuition told me it's too good to be true because as far as i understand, the post-graduation work permit is a closed work permit which only allows me work for one company.

thanks for your input on this issue in advance and your help is very much appreciated! :)

hi there:
any time you have a change of condition on your work permit, you would need a new work permit; either the change is a change of position or employer. and same rule applies to post-grad work permit as well, with that said you might be able to bypass the labour market opinion from HRSDC.

where do you live in canada? i am on post-grad work permit as well, and is undergoing a similar process. keep me posted with your situation.

you must re-apply for a new work permit, and your new work permit would not satisfy the criteria under the post-grad work permit, because you no longer has a valid student permit at the time of submitting your work permit application.

that means that you would need to apply for a HRSDC labour market opinion, before you can submit your work permit application. unless, your work falls under the pilot-project category or is exempt from the labour market opinion.

i see... thanks for your clarification

i am in vancouver. this sounds way too complicated. no employer's gonna wait for me to get a new work permit then let me go on to work. oh well, i am just gonna stay with one company then and see what happens :?

thanks again and good luck to you :)

the only time you can switch employer without applying for a new permit is when
you have a open work permit, meaning you permit implies no restriction.

are you on a 1 or 2 year permit? what is your profession?

nicolasanthony wrote:you must re-apply for a new work permit, and your new work permit would not satisfy the criteria under the post-grad work permit, because you no longer has a valid student permit at the time of submitting your work permit application.

that means that you would need to apply for a HRSDC labour market opinion, before you can submit your work permit application. unless, your work falls under the pilot-project category or is exempt from the labour market opinion.

I am not sure if it is true, not convinced with what you said. One of my friend who is having 1 yr PGWP after working for 6 months in X company shifted to new employed by changing his PGWR on new employers name. He got his new PGWP just by going to toronto's immig office. Here he did not get any HRSDC cleareance nor his employer. Ofcourse the new PGWP is valid till the initial end date. Please correct me if i am missing any info.
Thanks !

Hi Sanrom:
One can apply for a change of condition on a post-grad work permit, without obtaining a positive HRSDC labour market opinion, provided that the work permit is valid and within the expiry date of one's post-grad work permit.
Thanks and Good luck to you.