The
Federal Court reviewed the refusal of an open work permit application submitted
by the spouse of a foreign worker following IRCC’s January 21, 2025 changes to
spousal open work permit eligibility. The applicant argued that her application
was submitted before the policy change took effect and should have been
assessed under the previous rules. The Court dismissed the application, finding
that the evidence showed the application was received after the established
deadline.
Key
Principle
For
online immigration applications, the relevant date is when IRCC receives the
application through its online system not when payment is made. Where an
application is submitted after a published policy cutoff, it will be assessed
under the new eligibility requirements.
Background
The
applicant, a citizen of Bangladesh, applied for an open work permit as the
spouse of a foreign worker employed in Canada. Effective January 21, 2025, at
5:00 UTC, IRCC restricted eligibility for spousal open work permits to spouses
of workers in specified occupations. Because the applicant’s husband worked as
a Food Services Supervisor, he no longer qualified to sponsor her under the new
policy. The applicant argued that she completed payment before the deadline and
that her application should therefore have been processed under the previous
eligibility rules.
Court
Findings
- Application Was Received After the Policy Cutoff
The Court held that the Global Case Management System
(GCMS) records established that the online application was received after the
January 21, 2025, 5:00 UTC deadline. Accordingly, the officer reasonably
applied the new eligibility requirements.
- Payment Does Not Determine Filing Date
Justice McDonald accepted the applicant’s payment
receipt as admissible because it related to procedural fairness. However, the
receipt only confirmed when the application fee was paid and did not establish
when the work permit application itself was submitted. The filing date is
determined by the time the application is received through IRCC’s online
system.
- IRCC’s Published Deadline Was Clear
The Court relied on IRCC’s publicly available
guidance stating that online applications are processed based on Coordinated
Universal Time (UTC) and that applications received before the January 21, 2025
cutoff would be assessed under the previous rules. Since the applicant’s
application was received after that deadline, the officer correctly applied the
new policy.
Outcome
The
Federal Court dismissed the application for judicial review, holding that the
officer reasonably determined the application was submitted after the policy
cutoff and properly assessed it under the revised spousal open work permit
eligibility requirements.
Case Citation: Khanam v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2026 FC 883 (CanLII)
