Bringing your family while you study in Canada

For years the advice to international students was simple: come to Canada, bring your spouse, and your spouse gets an open work permit. That advice is out of date, and following it now is how families arrive with one income instead of two.

Effective 21 January 2025, IRCC limited the family open work permit to the spouses of certain students and certain workers. Most students are no longer in that group. Your family can still come with you, but whether your spouse can work depends entirely on what you are studying, and it is worth knowing that before you choose the programme.

Who can come with you

A spouse or common-law partner and dependent children can accompany a study permit holder. What differs is the status each holds once they arrive. A spouse may hold a work permit, a study permit or visitor status. A dependent child may hold a study permit or visitor status. Nobody is admitted as an attachment to your file.

IRCC's proof of funds requirement is framed around the whole group: you must show funds to support yourself and any family members coming with you, and the required amount rises with each person. IRCC publishes and revises the current figure on canada.ca, so check it rather than relying on a number a friend used last year.

The spousal open work permit: who still qualifies

IRCC's own page opens with the qualifier: "The spouses and common-law partners of some international students may be eligible for an open work permit." Starting 21 January 2025, your spouse or common-law partner may be eligible if you have a valid study permit and you are one of the following.

• Studying in a master's degree programme of 16 months or longer.
• Studying in a doctoral degree programme.
• Participating in one of the eligible programmes IRCC lists, which are a small set of named provincial pilots and bridging programmes.
• Studying in one of these professional degree programmes at a university: Doctor of Dental Surgery, Bachelor of Law or Juris Doctor, Doctor of Medicine, Doctor of Optometry, Pharmacy, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Bachelor of Nursing Science, Bachelor of Nursing, Bachelor of Education, or Bachelor of Engineering.

Read the first item closely. A master's degree alone is not enough. The programme has to be 16 months or longer, which excludes many twelve-month master's programmes marketed to international students. If you are choosing between a twelve-month and a sixteen-month version of the same degree and your spouse intends to work, that is the whole decision.

The eligible programmes list is short and specific. It covers the Francophone Minority Communities Student Pilot outside Quebec, three health credential recognition projects in Quebec, the Supervised Practice Experience Partnership in Ontario, Nurse Re-Entry at Red River College Polytechnic in Manitoba, and three British Columbia programmes at the University of British Columbia and Langara College. If your programme is not on that list, it does not count.

If your spouse does not qualify, IRCC's line is that they may be able to get another type of work permit. That is true, but those routes generally require an employer and a job offer, which is slower and less certain than an open permit.

How long the permit lasts and how it is extended

IRCC says that most of the time your spouse or partner's work permit will be valid for the same period as your study permit. It is an open work permit, which IRCC defines as one that lets the holder work for any employer in Canada except an employer on the list of those who have failed to comply with the conditions, or one that regularly offers striptease, erotic dance, escort services or erotic massages.

Extensions have their own conditions, and one catches families at the wrong moment. To extend under this stream, IRCC requires that you hold a valid study permit, are physically in Canada or will be while studying, are a full-time student in a PGWP-eligible programme at a DLI, and are not in the last term of your programme. The permit also cannot run past the expiry of your study permit.

That last term exclusion is the one to plan for. If your spouse's permit expires while you are finishing your final semester, this stream cannot renew it.

Dependent children: what changed

The 2025 changes also removed dependent children from this measure. IRCC's announcement states that dependent children of foreign workers are no longer eligible, and the current page for spouses of students describes eligibility only for a spouse or common-law partner. There is a narrow renewal carve-out: in-Canada family members, including spouses and dependent children, can renew an existing work permit where they apply under the same criteria as the current permit and the duration matches the principal applicant's permit. In plain terms, a child who already holds one of these permits may be able to renew it. A child arriving now should not expect to get one.

Children and school: when a study permit is required

This is where families get the sequence wrong, because the answer changes depending on whether the child is arriving or already here.

A minor child coming to Canada accompanied by a parent who holds a study or work permit needs a study permit, and IRCC requires the application to be made before the child enters Canada. Helpfully, IRCC also says that where a minor child comes with parents who are applying for a study or work permit, a letter of acceptance is not required for the child's application.

Once the family is in Canada the rule flips. IRCC lists among those who may study without a permit minor children who are "in Canada attending preschool, primary school or secondary school, and they are accompanied by a parent who is authorized to study or work in Canada". IRCC still recommends getting one, because a valid permit means the minor may be able to get a secondary school co-op work permit, may have access to social services in some provinces, and can move between education levels without a new permit.

Custodians and the age of majority

Two further rules are easy to miss. Minor children under the age of 17 must either come with a parent or legal guardian or have a custodian in Canada, and a custodian is a responsible adult who is a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. A custodian is optional for minors aged 17 and over, but an officer can still request one.

And when a child reaches the age of majority, which is 18 in Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Saskatchewan and 19 in the rest of the country, they must apply for a study permit if they want to keep studying. Diarise that birthday.

The visitor route, and what it does not give you

If your spouse cannot get a work permit and does not want to study, they can apply to come as a visitor, with a visitor visa or an electronic travel authorisation depending on their nationality. Plenty of families do this, and for a short programme it is often the sensible answer.

Be clear about the limits first. Visitor status carries no work authorisation, so any work requires a work permit obtained some other way. Study is limited: IRCC says you do not need a study permit for a programme lasting 6 months or less, so anything longer needs a permit of its own. And a visitor record has an expiry date that will not track your study permit.

The honest summary is that visitor status keeps a family together while one person studies. It does not build anything. Time in Canada as a visitor is not Canadian work experience and does not count toward the programmes that reward it.

I am starting a one-year master's degree. Can my spouse get an open work permit?

Not under this measure. IRCC requires a master's degree programme of 16 months or longer. A twelve-month master's does not meet it, even at the same university. If your spouse's ability to work matters, compare programme lengths before you accept an offer.

I am doing a college diploma. Is there any way my spouse can work?

Not through the family open work permit, which since 21 January 2025 is limited to longer master's programmes, doctoral programmes, listed professional degrees and a short list of named eligible programmes. IRCC notes a spouse who is not eligible may get another type of work permit, but those routes need an employer and a job offer.

Can my children work while we are in Canada?

Not under this measure. The 2025 changes removed dependent children from eligibility, with a narrow renewal carve-out for in-Canada family members who already hold a permit. A child of working age would need to qualify for a work permit in their own right.

Does my child need a study permit for primary school?

It depends where they are when you ask. A minor child coming to Canada with a parent who holds a study or work permit must apply before entering. A minor already in Canada attending preschool, primary or secondary school, accompanied by a parent authorised to study or work, does not need one, although IRCC recommends it anyway.

My spouse's work permit expires during my final semester. Can we extend it?

Not under this stream. IRCC requires that you are not in the last term of your programme, and the permit cannot run past the expiry of your study permit. This needs planning at the start.

Can my spouse switch from visitor status to a work permit after we arrive?

Only if they qualify for a work permit on their own facts, and the route and the timing both matter. This is a situation where getting advice before anyone travels is far cheaper than fixing it afterwards.

If your family's plan depends on your spouse being able to work, have the programme and the permit route checked before you accept an offer letter. Book a consultation

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