PGWP Changes 2024-2026: What International Graduates Need to Know

The post-graduation work permit changed twice in the space of a year, then partly changed back. If you read something about it written in mid 2025, it may describe a list that no longer applies. Here is where the rules actually stand.

The two requirements added on 1 November 2024

IRCC introduced a language requirement and a field of study requirement on the same date. They are triggered by different application dates, which is the detail that causes most of the confusion.

Language is keyed to the date of the PGWP application. Graduates of a bachelor, master or doctoral degree, and of other university programmes, must show Canadian Language Benchmarks 7 in English or the French equivalent in all four abilities. Graduates of college, polytechnic and other non-university programmes must show CLB or NCLC 5 in all four. Flight school graduates have no language requirement. Anyone who submitted a PGWP application before 1 November 2024 is not held to it.

Field of study is keyed to the date of the study permit application. It applies to non-degree programmes and asks that the programme appear on IRCC's list of eligible Classification of Instructional Programs codes. You are exempt if you applied for a PGWP before 1 November 2024, graduated from a PGWP-eligible flight school, hold a bachelor, master or doctoral degree, or applied for a study permit before 1 November 2024.

What happened to the list in 2025, and what it means now

On 25 June 2025 IRCC revised the list to match labour market priorities: fields were added in health care and social services, education and trades, and a number of others were removed. Nine days later, on 4 July 2025, IRCC added back the fields it had just removed, and stated they stay eligible until the list is next updated. Anyone who submitted a study permit application in one of those fields between 25 June and 4 July still meets the requirement.

Grandfathering runs alongside it: a student who applied for a study permit before 25 June 2025 remains covered if the field was on the list at the time they applied, even if it later came off.

And the single most useful current fact, stated on IRCC's own page: for 2026, no fields of study will be added or removed. The list is stable this year.

How long a PGWP runs

Length follows the programme. A programme under eight months does not lead to a PGWP at all. A programme of eight months to under two years can lead to a permit up to the same length as the programme. A programme of two years or more can lead to a three year permit, which is the maximum. Since 15 February 2024 a master's degree of at least eight months can lead to a three year permit even though the programme is shorter than two years.

Two practical notes. If a programme is completed faster than its normal length, the permit may still be issued for the full programme length. If part of the programme was studied overseas, the permit is valid only for the time studied in Canada. Passport expiry can also cut a permit short.

The application window

IRCC asks for the application within 180 days of confirmation that the programme is complete, and the study permit must have been valid at some point during those 180 days. Full-time status is expected in each semester, with part-time allowed in the final one. Quebec programmes are measured in hours rather than months.

Because the rules turn on dates rather than on circumstances, the useful step is to write down two of them: when the study permit was applied for, and when the programme was confirmed complete. Those two dates decide which version of the rules applies. Our study permits page covers the wider picture.