For more than a week, international graduates have been protesting near Saddletowne Circle in northeast Calgary, in front of the Genesis Centre, following a wave of post graduation work permit refusals. According to LiveWire Calgary, Monday July 27 marked the fifth day of the protest, which began as a hunger strike. One of the participants, Jashan Preet Singh, told the outlet that Members of Parliament, provincial legislators and the head of the local Gurdwara committee came to the site and asked them to end the hunger strike.

What IRCC has actually published

The post graduation work permit is issued as an LMIA exempt work permit under section 205(c)(ii) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, under exemption code C43. The eligibility requirements are published in IRCC’s guidance on canada.ca.

The PGWP eligibility page on canada.ca, last modified on June 24, 2026, lists among the situations that prevent you from qualifying having “completed a non-credit program of study (except for a flight school program)”.

In a statement to LiveWire Calgary, IRCC said:

We updated our PGWP webpage in June 2026 to clarify the existing eligibility requirements related to non-credit programs of study. To be eligible for a PGWP, applicants must complete a program of study that leads to a degree, diploma, or certificate from a designated learning institution.Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, to LiveWire Calgary

In a later statement, once the protest was under way, the department added:

We recognize that this situation is deeply important to those involved. We understand that behind every application, there is a person, a family and important plans for the future.Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, to LiveWire Calgary

IRCC has not published figures on how many PGWP applications were refused on this ground.

A separate rule that is often confused with this one

Some of the coverage and some affected graduates refer to enrolment before May 2024. On the same eligibility page, canada.ca sets out a rule with that date, concerning programs delivered at a private college on behalf of a public college in the same province: “If you began a program of study at a private college being delivered on behalf of a public college in the same province on or before May 15, 2024, you may be eligible for a PGWP”, and it adds that if the program began after that date, there is no eligibility. It is a different condition from the one on non credit programs, and canada.ca does not present it as an exemption from that one.

What is being alleged, and by whom

The statements that follow were published by LiveWire Calgary and have not been confirmed by IRCC. Jaskirat Kaur, a graduate, said that outcomes differed within the same course: “If the course is the same and we are sitting at the same desk, there’s no difference. It’s unfair for us.” Sikander Singh, also a graduate, said that enrolling before May 2024 was the only additional requirement they understood they had to meet.

Immigration lawyer Laura-Anne Goulding described the set of decisions in these terms: “This seems to be, kind of, a mass refusal, or refusal on similar grounds all around the same time.”

The routes actually available after a refusal

There is no appeal tribunal for a refused PGWP. Two formal routes exist, and they are not interchangeable.

If you were refused: the order that protects you

Before choosing any route there is one step more urgent than all of them.

• Stop working. The official page on restoring your status states that when you lose your status “You must stop working”.
• Protect your status before you fight the decision. The same page states: “We must receive your application to restore your status no more than 90 days after your status expired”. It also notes that, normally, you are not allowed to work until your status has been restored and your new work permit issued.
• Request your GCMS notes. They show the officer’s reasoning rather than the summary on the letter, and they show whether the officer contacted your institution.
• Get a specific letter from the institution. It must state the credential and the credit status of your exact program, at your exact campus, on your exact enrolment date.
• Only then decide the route. Not before.

How to keep it from happening to you: five checks before you enrol

This sequence has no cost and takes an afternoon.

• Ask in writing whether the program carries academic credit. Not whether the school is designated, and not whether the program is full time. Ask whether the courses carry academic credit toward a credential the institution itself grants, and ask for the answer by email.
• Ask for the six digit CIP code and check it yourself against the current list of eligible fields of study on canada.ca. Check it again before you apply, because the list changes.
• Confirm PGWP eligibility for that program at that campus. Ask directly whether the program is delivered at a private college on behalf of a public college, because canada.ca sets the May 15, 2024 date for that case.
• Record the rule as it stands on the day you enrol. Save the canada.ca page as a PDF with the date modified visible, save the school’s written answers and save your letter of acceptance.
• Plan the language test early. According to canada.ca, CLB 5 for college and other non degree programs, CLB 7 for degrees, in all four abilities.

If you are still deciding where to study, our study in Canada section explains how the study permit and the work permit connect.

How an earlier situation was resolved

There was an earlier group of applicants whose PGWP was refused by IRCC on an eligibility criterion, and the department resolved that situation through a public policy. The ground for refusal was different from the current one: in that case, that the majority of the coursework had been completed through distance learning. What matters is how it was resolved.

The document is archived on canada.ca as the public policy concerning individuals refused post-graduation work permit access between September 1, 2014 to March 15, 2016. It took effect on September 27, 2016 and expired on March 17, 2017.

It covered those who met two conditions: that “the Post-Graduation Work Permit was refused between September 1, 2014, and March 15, 2016”, and that “the reason for the refusal was that the majority of their coursework was completed via distance learning”.

The solution was not to review each file one by one, but to lift the barriers that prevented a fresh application. According to the official text, those who qualified were granted four exemptions:

• From the application processing fee under subsection 299(1) of the Regulations.
• From the requirement to be described under paragraph 200(1)(c).
• From the requirement under section 197 to apply for a work permit before entering Canada.
• From the 90 day limit after losing temporary resident status under subsection 182(1).

What to watch

As of the publication of this article, IRCC has not announced any measure equivalent to the 2016 public policy for applications refused on non credit grounds, has not published figures on refusals on this ground, and has not modified the eligibility page since June 24, 2026. The date modified on that page is the thing to follow: any change of criterion appears there first.