IRCC Set to Cut Over 100,000 Spousal Open Work Permits in the Next Three Years

[Adeniyi]

In a recent update on Canada’s temporary resident programs, Immigration Minister Marc Miller unveiled key changes to the Spousal Open Work Permit (SOWP) eligibility criteria.

On September 18, Minister Miller shared plans to introduce stricter requirements for SOWP eligibility, specifically affecting spouses of students enrolled in certain doctoral, master’s, and professional programs, as well as select pilot initiatives.

One notable change is that spouses of master’s degree students will only qualify for an SOWP if the student’s program lasts a minimum of 16 months. This follows a previous announcement from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), which limited SOWPs to spouses of students pursuing specific master’s or doctoral programs at Canadian Designated Learning Institutions (DLIs). Exceptions were made for spouses of students in certain high-demand undergraduate programs.

Additionally, the changes tie into IRCC’s decision to include master’s and doctoral students in a 2025 cap on the number of study permits issued. Out of 437,000 study permits allocated for that year, 12% are reserved for these students. Notably, master’s and PhD students are not included in the study permit cap for 2024.

Although further details were not provided, Miller indicated that these reforms would lead to 50,000 fewer SOWPs being issued to spouses of international students over the next three years.


Temporary foreign workers will also be impacted by new changes to the Spousal Open Work Permit (SOWP) program.

IRCC has announced that work permit eligibility will now be restricted to the spouses of highly skilled professionals. This includes top-level executives, scientists, engineers, lawyers, professors, and technicians, as well as spouses of workers in industries facing critical labor shortages.

As a result of these revisions, it is anticipated that 100,000 fewer SOWPs will be issued over the next three years.