CUAET Work Permit Expiring? How to Extend It (2026)

Three years after arriving under the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel, thousands of Ukrainian families in Canada are watching the expiry date on their open work permit come up fast. The rules changed on April 1, 2026, and most people have not read the change. According to canada.ca, if you are a Ukrainian national or an eligible family member and you arrived in Canada on or before December 31, 2024, you may be eligible, depending on which public policy issued your current permit, to extend your open work permit for up to 3 years, and the deadline to apply is March 31, 2027. There is a catch that decides the whole file: your current work permit has to still be valid when you apply.

Can I still extend my CUAET work permit in 2026?

Yes, if your CUAET-based open work permit is still valid. Canada.ca states that if you have a valid open work permit that was issued under a public policy for Ukrainians and eligible family members, you may be able to extend your open work permit for up to 3 years, and that the deadline to apply is March 31, 2027. The legal basis is a temporary public policy signed by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, the Hon. Lena Metlege Diab, on March 27, 2026, which came into effect on April 1, 2026 and expires on March 31, 2027.

The policy is narrow by design. It grants an exemption from paragraph 200(1)(c) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, the requirement that a work permit applicant fit one of the standard work permit categories, which is what allows an open work permit to be issued here at all. Everything else stays in place: the policy states that foreign nationals eligible under it are still subject to all other applicable eligibility and admissibility requirements that are not specifically exempted.

Who qualifies for the CUAET work permit extension?

Five conditions have to be met at once, and the arrival date that applies to you depends on which public policy issued your current permit. According to the policy text on canada.ca, you must have valid temporary resident status, you must have arrived within the applicable window, you must hold a valid work permit issued on the basis of one of the listed CUAET-related public policies, you must apply for a work permit renewal from within Canada under subsection 201(1) of the Regulations, and you must not already have been granted an exemption under this policy. Canada.ca adds an operational requirement the policy text does not spell out: you must be in Canada both when you apply and when a decision is made on your extension.

There is also an exclusion that catches people. Canada.ca states that temporary resident permit holders are not eligible under these measures, and directs them to apply for another temporary resident permit through the regular process, noting they can apply to extend the work permit together with that application. If you hold a TRP rather than ordinary temporary resident status, this policy is not your route.

On the arrival date, the policy sets out two groups. If your current permit was issued under the original CUAET public policies signed on March 16, 2022, March 21, 2023, July 7, 2023, August 8, 2024 or February 20, 2025, you must have arrived in Canada on or before March 31, 2024. If your permit was issued under the two policies covering applications that were pending as of February 4, 2024, signed on March 29, 2024 and July 31, 2024, canada.ca's how to apply page frames the window as arriving in Canada between April 1, 2024 and December 31, 2024 inclusive. If you are not sure which policy your permit came from, that is the first thing to establish, because it changes your eligibility.

One phrase in the conditions does more work than any other: holds a valid work permit. This is an extension policy, not a rescue policy. If the permit in your hand has already expired and you did not apply to extend before it expired, you do not meet the condition, and the answer moves to a completely different set of rules.

How long is the extension, and can I use it more than once?

The extension is for up to 3 years, and you can use it once. Canada.ca states that eligible holders may extend their open work permit for up to 3 years, and the public policy condition is explicit that the applicant must not already have been granted an exemption under this policy. In practice that means this is a single door, and once you walk through it there is no second extension under the same measure.

Up to 3 years is also a ceiling, not a promise. Canada.ca states that IRCC cannot issue a work permit that goes past the expiry of your passport or your biometrics, and advises that if either will expire within 3 years you should renew them before you apply. For Ukrainian nationals renewing a passport in Canada that is not a small step, and in my practice it is a common reason a permit comes back shorter than expected. Do not let it delay the filing itself, though: canada.ca states that if you cannot renew your passport in time you can still submit an application, and IRCC will assess those applications case by case. Check both dates before you file, not after.

That is the part worth planning around. Three years sounds long until you count backwards from what it is meant to buy you: time to build Canadian work experience and move to a permanent solution. Skilled Canadian work experience in TEER 0, 1, 2 or 3 is what counts toward Canadian Experience Class eligibility and Express Entry points, so the job you take during the extension matters as much as the extension itself.

Can I still apply for a brand new CUAET open work permit?

Not under the CUAET-based measures. Canada.ca lists exactly two situations that the current measures still cover: you have a valid open work permit that was issued under a public policy for Ukrainians and eligible family members, or you are waiting for a decision on your application for the permanent residence pathway for Ukrainians and family members. A brand new CUAET open work permit is not on that list. That is the single biggest misunderstanding I hear from Ukrainian clients right now, and it usually arrives with someone who was told by a friend that the CUAET route is still open. But be careful with the opposite error too, because a new permit is still possible in that second situation: canada.ca states that if you are waiting on a decision under the permanent residence pathway for Ukrainians and family members, you can apply for an open work permit, with a deadline to apply of March 31, 2027. That is a separate measure with its own conditions, not a revival of CUAET. If you are in neither situation, canada.ca points you to the regular immigration programs.

If you hold a different status, canada.ca directs you to the ordinary channels: visitors, study permit holders and other work permit holders can apply to extend their stay in Canada through the regular process if they are eligible. Those routes have their own requirements and their own fees, and none of them carry the CUAET exemptions.

What if my CUAET work permit has already expired?

First, check whether it truly expired without an application on file, because that is a different situation from a permit that ran out after you applied. If IRCC received an extension application before your permit expired, you are on maintained status, your temporary resident status is still valid, and restoration does not apply to you. The mechanics of maintained status while IRCC processes your extension decide whether you can keep going to work in the meantime.

If the permit expired and no application was filed in time, you are outside this policy and your options narrow quickly. The extension policy requires valid temporary resident status and a valid work permit at the time you apply. What replaces it is the general restoration framework: canada.ca states that if you lose your status you must stop working, and that to stay in Canada and start working again you have to apply to restore your status and get a new work permit, with IRCC needing to receive that application no more than 90 days after your status expired.

At that point the practical questions become how many days have passed and whether you worked after the expiry date, and the answers are covered in more detail in this piece on what to do when your work permit has expired in Canada. Do not guess at this stage. The gap between 89 days and 91 days is the gap between a file and a departure.

What should I do right now?

Find your work permit, read the expiry date, and count the weeks. Then confirm which public policy issued it, because that determines which arrival date test applies to you. Check your passport and biometrics expiry at the same time. Then file well before the permit expires rather than well before the March 31, 2027 policy deadline, since those are two different clocks and the earlier one is the one that governs your right to keep working.

It is also worth saying the quiet part out loud: a three year extension is breathing room, not permanent residence. The war continues, the policy expires on March 31, 2027, and the policy itself notes that it may be revoked at any time without prior notice. The families who come out of this well are the ones who use the extension to build a permanent residence case, whether through skilled Canadian work experience, a provincial nomination or humanitarian and compassionate grounds. Alisa Osipovich, RCIC-IRB R1055424, reviews your permit history, tells you exactly which measure you fall under and maps the extension onto a permanent residence plan rather than another temporary fix.