Ottawa Ends Priority Processing for Iranian Work Permits Under Updated Temporary Policy

(CANADA) — Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada let a special program for Iranian nationals in Canada expire at midnight UTC on March 1, 2026, ending priority processing for open work permits and other temporary-residence flexibilities that had applied under an Updated temporary public policy.

The lapse means people who submit new requests after the cutoff can no longer rely on the special measures that had offered faster handling and certain in-Canada options, and must instead use standard IRCC programs and requirements.

IRCC designed the Updated temporary public policy for nationals of Iran in Canada as temporary residents for Iranian nationals already in the country as temporary residents who arrived on or before February 28, 2025.

The policy first took shape in February 2023, after civil unrest in Iran following the death of Mahsa Amini in September 2022, and IRCC later updated and re-implemented it on March 1, 2025.

Under the policy, eligible Iranian nationals could apply from within Canada for open work permits without employer-specific details or a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), a shift from the employer-tied structure that often governs work authorization.

That open work permit access ended for new applications once the policy expired, removing a channel that had allowed applicants to work without being tied to a particular job offer under the special measure.

IRCC also ended the policy’s priority handling for certain work permit and extension applications, meaning standard processing times now apply for new submissions going forward.

A third benefit that ended for new applications involved study permits: the policy had allowed applicants to submit initial study permit applications from inside Canada, bypassing usual requirements to apply from abroad.

Because the policy’s expiry primarily changes eligibility for new submissions after the deadline, people who applied earlier are not automatically pushed into the standard system solely because the program has now lapsed.

For the open work permits that were available under the special measure, IRCC had allowed validity for up to 2 years.

IRCC’s handling of transition cases turns on when an application arrived in its system, and the department indicated that applications submitted before March 1, 2026, continue processing under the policy rules that were in effect at the time of submission.

That approach draws a bright line between people who filed while the program still operated and those who try to apply after the expiration, even if their circumstances otherwise look similar.

Applicants who submit after the lapse must follow standard pathways, including regular fees, processing times and program rules that apply to the wider temporary-resident system.

For study permits, that means the typical expectation to apply from outside Canada unless exemptions apply, rather than relying on the in-Canada submission option that existed under the special measure.

IRCC’s official page also confirms that special measures changed as of March 1, 2025, and it directed applicants to use regular processes for visitor extensions or study permits.

The expiration underscores how IRCC uses time-limited temporary public policies as humanitarian responses to global events, setting up special measures and then allowing them to run to an end date unless extended or replaced.

IRCC has used similar temporary public policies in response to events tied to Ukraine, Haiti, Gaza, and Sudan.

In this case, no replacement policy for Iranians has been announced, leaving new applicants to proceed under the standard rules unless IRCC announces otherwise.

For many Iranian nationals already in Canada, the immediate question is how to maintain lawful status and work authorization without the special public policy’s simplified access to open work permits and priority processing.

Those with expiring temporary status must now look to mainstream options within Canada’s existing framework, including employer-supported pathways where required and the usual documentation and eligibility checks.

One route is work permits that require an LMIA, an employer-backed step that is often central to standard work-permit processing where no special measure applies.

People can also pursue extensions through regular IRCC processes, rather than relying on the public policy’s expedited handling and tailored flexibilities.

Some may be eligible for permanent residence pathways, while others may consider family-based options depending on their circumstances.

IRCC also listed spousal or other open work permit streams among the options people can pursue under standard rules, separate from the expired Iran-specific public policy.

The policy that just ended had already evolved before its expiration, including a change that removed fee exemptions that had existed under the original 2023 version and were no longer in place after the 2025 update.

That evolution reflected how IRCC adjusted the measure over time while keeping the core focus on Iranian nationals in Canada as temporary residents who met the arrival cutoff.

With the updated policy now expired, the practical effect is a return to the ordinary system for new applications, with standard processing and typical eligibility requirements applying across work permits, study permits, and extensions unless another exemption fits.

For applicants who filed before the deadline, the dividing line remains the submission date, with the policy framework in place at the time of filing generally governing how IRCC continues processing those cases.

For those who missed the cutoff, the end of priority processing and the end of the in-Canada open work permit pathway under the special measure reshapes timelines and requirements, pushing applicants back into regular program channels.

The department said it continues monitoring global situations but has not indicated extensions for this policy.