Effective December 22, 2014, eligible spouses or common-law partners have the opportunity to work in Canada while they wait for their application for permanent residence to be processed.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) will issue open work permits to certain spouses or common-law partners who are applying for permanent residence from inside Canada, before the approval in principle decision on their application is made. If you are a citizen or permanent resident of Canada and at least 18 years old, you can sponsor certain relatives to come to Canada under the Family Class. These can be:

If your family member can become a permanent resident, they can live, study and work in Canada. You may sponsor your spouse, partner or dependent (biological or adopted) children. Your parents and grandparents may also be eligible to visit Canada for up to two years at a time under the Parent and Grandparent Super Visa.