The Manitoba Legislative Assembly grounds. Photo: Graham McDonald/U Multicultural Journalism and Media Arts Centre
New details about a federal work-permit measure for Manitoba have revealed that eligibility is narrower than it initially appeared.
Back on July 16, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada announced it would allow Manitoba to extend the work permits of up to 2,700 people in the Provincial Nomination Program, but who exactly would qualify was unclear.
The Manitoba government and IRCC have now clarified the criteria. The program is formally titled the Workforce Transition Bridge Temporary Public Policy and in order to qualify someone needs to have received a Manitoba Support Letter under the earlier 2024 or 2025 temporary public policies.
They also need to have held a valid work permit issued under the earlier temporary policy, be working full-time in Manitoba, still be eligible for the MPNP with an active EOI file and not yet have been nominated.
IRCC explained the lag between the signing of the policy and its announcement on August 5 was due to a need for the two governments to coordinate with each other and produce appropriate online materials explaining the situation.
“The one-month difference between the authorization by the Minister and the public release was largely due to intergovernmental engagement and the preparation of online materials to support implementation,” IRCC Communications spokesperson Mary Rose Sabater said in an e-mail.
“This sequence ensured both parties were prepared to initiate intake and effectively support clients.”
The policy also contains provisions for some eligible workers who have already lost their temporary resident status. IRCC told U Multicultural that qualifying applicants are exempt from the usual 90-day deadline to seek restoration of status, with no specific limit on how long they may have been out of status.
The exemption applies only to people who otherwise meet the requirements of the temporary public policy.
IRCC did not provide figures on how many work permits had been received or approved under the new policy.
“Work permit applications received or approved to date under the Manitoba Workforce Transition Bridge public policy has not yet been released,” Sabater said.
On ImmigrateManitoba.com, the statement about the policy says that “up to” 2,700 people may receive extensions under the new policy.
“The figure of up to 2,700 open work permits represents a maximum cap to be issued under the public policy,” Sabater said.
The new criteria mean that some in the Expression of Interest pool won’t end up benefitting after all.
Monica Fajardo, a Colombian immigrant who has lived in Winnipeg with her husband since 2024, has been in the MPNP Expression of Interest pool for more than a year and a half. But because she did not receive a support letter under the earlier temporary policies, she does not qualify for the new program.
In an e-mail to U Multicultural written in Spanish, Fajardo said IRCC recently refused her application to extend her work authorization, forcing her to leave her job.
Fajardo’s comments have been translated from Spanish by the author of this piece, with Fajardo’s permission.
“IRCC has already refused my permit, so I have 90 days to switch to visitor status,” Fajardo said in the e-mail, “and I had to quit my job at the company I was working at.”
Her husband, however, recently received an invitation to apply to the provincial nominee program.
The couple also recently welcomed a baby.
“The only positive thing is that my baby has been born and thank God Manitoba Health covered the whole birth,” Fajardo said.
Questions sent to Manitoba Cabinet Communications press secretary Andrew Chapman were not answered by publication time.
Graham McDonald, U Multicultural Journalism and Media Arts Centre