(CANADA) — Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada extended work permit measures for Ukrainians on March 31, 2026, giving eligible people in Canada another year to apply and up to three (3) additional years of work authorization under a new temporary public policy.

IRCC said the policy took effect on April 1, 2026, replacing measures that expired on March 31, 2026. Eligible applicants now have until March 31, 2027 to seek an extension.

The announcement came from Lena Metlege Diab, Canada’s immigration minister, as the war in Ukraine continued and thousands of displaced people remained in Canada under earlier emergency measures. “As Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine persists, Canada continues to support displaced Ukrainians through CUAET, through this extension. The program allows this cohort to work and contribute to the Canadian economy while they are here.”

Canada limited the new measure to two groups. One covers Ukrainian nationals and their family members who arrived in Canada on or before March 31, 2024; the other covers people who received a late CUAET decision and were authorized to arrive between April 1, 2024, and December 31, 2024.

Applicants must hold a valid open work permit issued under the original CUAET or related public policies, and they must have valid temporary resident status when they apply. The 2026 measure is a one-time policy; each person can use it only once.

The Canada Ukraine Open Work Permit Extension Policy marks a change in tone as much as in timing. CUAET, the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel, stopped accepting new applications in July 2023, but about 300,000 Ukrainians remain in Canada.

That left Ottawa facing a different problem from the one it confronted at the start of the war. Emergency entry had given way to longer-term questions about jobs, legal status and whether families could remain together while the conflict entered its fifth year.

The new measure answers those questions in administrative terms. It keeps a temporary path open for people already in Canada, rather than reopening the emergency program to new applicants.

IRCC framed the extension as a way to keep people in the labour force while they wait for decisions. In practical terms, it is meant to prevent disruptions that would arise if workers lost maintained status and had to stop working before a new permit arrived.

Family members also fall within the policy, including relatives of any nationality tied to eligible Ukrainian nationals. That broadens the measure beyond single permit holders and helps keep whole households documented under the same temporary framework.

The extension also creates time for people who want to move onto a permanent track. Canada updated the Permanent Residence Pathway for Ukrainian Nationals with Family Members in Canada earlier in 2026, and the work permit policy gives eligible residents more room to prepare and apply.

Ottawa published the announcement in an IRCC newsroom release and set out the eligibility rules in an IRCC policy manual. The documents place the extension inside a narrower, post-emergency structure, aimed at people already admitted under earlier measures.

U.S. measures for Ukrainians

Canada’s move unfolded alongside a separate U.S. measure for Ukrainians living south of the border. The Department of Homeland Security announced on Jan. 10, 2025 that it was extending Temporary Protected Status for Ukraine for 18 months, from April 20, 2025, to Oct. 19, 2026.

The U.S. announcement, published in a DHS newsroom notice, said: “The Department of Homeland Security announced on Jan. 10, 2025, the extension of Temporary Protected Status for Ukraine for 18 months, from April 20, 2025, to Oct. 19, 2026, due to armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions in Ukraine that prevent individuals from safely returning.”

Canada’s system differs from the American TPS framework, but both governments have kept temporary protections in place in 2026 as the war drags on. In Canada, the latest step came through IRCC and a public policy tied to work permits; in the United States, it came through the Department of Homeland Security and the TPS system.

Eligibility and timeline

Diab’s announcement did not reopen CUAET to new applicants. Instead, it focused on people already covered by earlier decisions and on late-approved travelers who had authorization to arrive by the end of 2024.

That cut-off matters because it defines who can still rely on Canada’s special Ukraine measures and who must look elsewhere in the immigration system. Ukrainians outside those two groups do not fall within this particular extension.

Eligible workers now face a clear calendar. Their applications must reach IRCC by March 31, 2027, and successful applicants can receive an open work permit for as long as three (3) additional years, provided they meet the status requirements at the time of filing.

Sustained support amid ongoing conflict

Canada has used temporary public policies before to respond quickly to displacement, but this measure sits in a more settled phase of the response. It preserves the ability to work, keeps family members tied to the same legal structure and gives residents already in Canada more time to decide whether to wait, return or seek permanent residence.

With about 300,000 Ukrainians in the country, the policy reaches beyond immigration files and into workplaces, schools and household budgets. The extension keeps that population under a legal framework that Ottawa now treats less as an emergency bridge and more as sustained support while the war continues.