The Canadian federal government has released a list of TEER 2 and TEER 3 occupations that remain eligible for a spousal open work permit (SOWP).
On January 14, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced that spouses of foreign workers can apply for an SOWP only if their spouse is employed in:
Additionally, the foreign worker must have at least 16 months remaining on their work permit at the time their spouse applies. These new rules took effect on January 21. However, they do not impact existing valid work permits approved under previous policies or their eligible renewals.
Previously, spouses of foreign workers qualified for an SOWP regardless of the foreign worker’s occupation. Below is the updated list of TEER 2 and TEER 3 occupations eligible for an SOWP.
Note: TEER (Training, Education, Experience, and Responsibilities) is the Canadian government's classification system for skill levels in the National Occupational Classification (NOC), where TEER 0 represents the highest skill level and TEER 5 the lowest.