06/18/2026
🇨🇦 MAINTAINED STATUS (FORMERLY IMPLIED STATUS) – WHAT IS IT AND WHAT DOES IT ALLOW YOU TO DO?
Many people believe that once their work permit, study permit, or visitor status expires, they must immediately leave Canada.
❌ Not necessarily.
If you submit an application to extend or change your temporary status before it expires, you may benefit from Maintained Status, allowing you to legally remain in Canada while waiting for a decision from IRCC.
📌 When do you have Maintained Status?
✅ You are physically in Canada
✅ You submitted an application to extend or change your status before your current document expired
✅ IRCC received your application before the expiry date of your current status
If these conditions are met, you may legally remain in Canada until IRCC makes a decision on your application.
📌 What does Maintained Status allow you to do?
👷 If you applied to extend your work permit, you can generally continue working under the same conditions as your previous permit.
🎓 If you applied to extend your study permit, you can generally continue studying under the same conditions.
🧳 If you applied to extend your visitor status, you may continue staying in Canada as a visitor.
📌 WHAT MAINTAINED STATUS DOES NOT MEAN
❌ Applying for Permanent Residence (PR) does NOT give you Maintained Status.
Simply submitting a PR application does not allow you to remain, work, or study in Canada after your temporary status expires.
To maintain your legal status, you must submit an appropriate temporary residence application before your current status expires.
❌ Maintained Status generally does NOT apply to the International Experience Canada (IEC) program.
Submitting an IEC application does not automatically allow you to continue working after your current IEC work permit expires.
⚠️ A common misconception is that:
• "I applied for PR, so I can keep working."
• "I applied for another IEC permit, so I can keep working after my current permit expires."
In both cases, this could result in unauthorized work and create serious immigration problems.
📌 What can you NOT do?
❌ Leave Canada and assume you will retain the same rights upon re-entry.
In many situations, leaving Canada while on Maintained Status may affect your ability to continue working or studying until a decision is made.
❌ Start a new job if you are not authorized to do so.
❌ Assume that Maintained Status means your document has been automatically extended.
Maintained Status only allows you to remain in Canada while waiting for a decision.
📌 Important
While on Maintained Status, you may experience difficulties renewing certain provincial documents, including:
• Driver's licence
• Health card (OHIP)
• Other documents requiring a valid IRCC-issued permit
🚨 Remember: Maintained Status only exists if your application was submitted BEFORE your current status expired.
If you miss the deadline by even one day, you may lose your status and need to apply for restoration.