If a visitor, worker, or student loses their legal status in Canada, they may be eligible to apply for status restoration. This process, known as a restoration application, allows individuals to regain their temporary resident status under specific conditions. According to section 182 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (“IRPR”), applicants must meet certain eligibility criteria to restore their status in Canada.:
182. On application made by a visitor, worker or student within 90 days after losing temporary resident status as a result of failing to comply with a condition imposed under paragraph 185(a), any of subparagraphs 185(b)(i) to (iii) or paragraph 185(c), an officer shall restore that status if, following an examination, it is established that the visitor, worker or student meets the initial requirements for their stay, has not failed to comply with any other conditions imposed and is not the subject of a declaration made under subsection 22.1(1) of the Act.
According to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (“IRCC“) Guidelines, if an individual applies to extend their temporary resident status and IRCC refuses the application after their status has expired, the Case Processing Centre – Edmonton will notify them that they can submit a restoration of status application.
This distinction is crucial because many applicants mistakenly believe that the 90-day restoration period begins only when their work permit, visitor record, or study permit expires. However, the period actually starts when their temporary resident status expires, which includes cases where they were on implied status.
Furthermore, in the Federal Court decision Shekhtman v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), the court established that IRCC must provide proof that it actually sent the decision regarding an applicant’s status..
The Guidelines also provides that restoration cannot be granted at Canadian ports of entry.
Approval Percentages
As shown in the tables below, the approval rate for restoration applications is lower than the approval rate for temporary status extension requests. This is not surprising.
| Restoration Requested | |||||
| Type | Approved | Refused | Withdrawn | % | |
| E-App | Study Permit | 1554 | 173 | 93 | 90% |
| Visitor Record | 478 | 105 | 126 | 82% | |
| Work Permit | 838 | 117 | 161 | 88% | |
| Total | 2870 | 395 | 380 | 88% | |
| Paper | Study Permit | 1244 | 246 | 6 | 83% |
| Visitor Record | 1965 | 537 | 18 | 79% | |
| Work Permit | 2794 | 551 | 24 | 84% | |
| Total | 6003 | 1334 | 48 | 82% | |
| No Restoration Requested | |||||
| Type | Approved | Refused | Withdrawn | % | |
| E-App | Study Permit | 44135 | 1625 | 469 | 96% |
| Visitor Record | 15739 | 841 | 1081 | 95% | |
| Work Permit | 68732 | 3332 | 1194 | 95% | |
| Total | 128606 | 5798 | 2744 | 96% | |
| Paper | Study Permit | 14700 | 1078 | 41 | 93% |
| Visitor Record | 26950 | 2238 | 112 | 92% | |
| Work Permit | 62728 | 5312 | 403 | 92% | |
| Total | 104378 | 8628 | 556 | 92% | |
* This data is for the first three quarters of 2013.
** For the approval percentage I removed the withdrawn column as applications could be withdrawn for numerous reasons, and do not indicate the likeliness of approval or refusal.
Time Lines
Applicants must submit restoration applications within the legally required 90-day period. Failure to do so will result in an automatic refusal. In fact, if a restoration application is submitted after the 90-day deadline, the courts have ruled that IRCC must refuse the application (Novak v. Canada, 2004 and Avi Adroh v. Canada, 2012).
In Haruna v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2025 FC 417, Madam Justice Heneghan ruled that an error in an IRCC refusal letter regarding the expiration date of an applicant’s status does not affect the 90-day deadline for submitting a restoration application.
The 90 Day Deadline
Unlike many other areas of immigration law, the 90-day restoration period begins on the exact date an applicant’s temporary resident status expires—not when they receive a decision from IRCC (Nzegwu v. Canada, 2010).
Here are three examples of how the 90 day deadline works in practice.
1. Status has expired and no application for extension has been submitted – 90 days starts from the day after status has expired. Example – a person’s study permit is valid until 12 December 2016. There is no application received by that date. Day 1 of the restoration period starts on 13 December 2016 and the 90 day period expires on 13 March 2017.
2. Application made before expiry of status; case is refused. 90 days starts from the date after the refusal decision. Example – A study permit is valid until 12 December 2016. The application is received on 01 December 2016. The refusal decision is made on 26 January 2017. Day 1 of the restoraiton period starts 27 January 2017. The 90 day period expires on 26 April 2017.
3. Application made after expiry of status but within 90 days of loss of status, but did not include restoration fees nor request restoration. Application is refused. 90 days start from day after status has expired. Example – study permit is valid until 12 December 2016. Application received 23 December 2016, but not requesting restoraiton nor restoration fees included. Application refused on 10 January 2017, advise client of restoration. Day 1 of restoration period begins 13 December 2016; 90 day period expires 13 March 2017.
On April 8, 2020, IRCC clarified on its website that if an application is rejected due to incompleteness, there is no extension of the period of authorized stay (implied status). IRCC’s officers have been a bit inconsistent with the application of this, and it remains to be seen how an officer processing a restoration application will address scenarios where the officer who rejected an extension application states that an applicant could benefit from implied status.
Working During Implied Status
Another myth that exists is that foreign nationals can work in Canada during the restoration period. This is not true. Regulation 182 provides that a foreign national can restore temporary resident status if the foreign national did not comply with a condition imposed under regulations 185(a), 185(b)(i) to (iii), or paragraph 185(c) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations. These sections state that:
185. An officer may impose, vary or cancel the following specific conditions on a temporary resident:
(a) the period authorized for their stay;
(b) the work that they are permitted to engage in, or are prohibited from engaging in, in Canada, including
(i) the type of work,
(ii) the employer,
(iii) the location of the work,
(c) the studies that they are permitted to engage in, or are prohibited from engaging in, in Canada, including
(i) the type of studies or course,
(ii) the educational institution,
(iii) the location of the studies, and
(iv) the times and periods of the studies;
Working without authorization is prohibited by regulation 183(1)(b) of the Regulations. As such, applicants cannot work during the restoration period. Indeed, if either the Canada Border Services Agency or Citizenship and Immigration Canada discovers the unauthorized work then the applicant will be issued an inadmissibility report and/or denied a work permit.
Processing of Permanent Residence
In Toor v. Canada (Citizenship and Immigration), 2024 FC 1146, the Applicant had a permanent residence application in process when she fell out of status and submitted a restoration application. IRCC sent her a letter stating she needed to provide proof that she had left Canada, as she was in the country without status. The Applicant responded, stating she was waiting for a decision on her restoration application. IRCC refused the application on the basis that she was out of status. The Court ruled that IRCC did not properly consider the Applicant’s point about her restoration application.
Removal
Generally speaking, it is rare that the Canada Border Services Agency will issue a removal order against someone who has applied for restoration of status. Where they have done so, a quick reading of the jurisprudence indicates that the Federal Court has sided with applicants in determining that this was unreasonable.
In Yu v. Canada, 2005 FC 1213, for example, an individual applied to restore his study permit one day after his status expired. During the period that Citizenship and Immigration Canada was processing his study permit extension application, the Canada Border Services Agency issued a removal order against the applicant. The removal order was made on the basis that the applicant had stayed in Canada beyond the period authorized by his stay. Justice Simpson, however, found this unreasonable, stating that:
It cannot be said that a temporary resident who has applied for restoration of his permit in a timely manner, as he is entitled to do so under the Regulations, has failed to comply with or breached the IRPA.
However, the Federal Court has ruled that a Minister’s delegate has a duty to consider eligibility to apply for restoration and/or that a restoration has been submitted when determining whether to issue an inadmissibility report. (Sui v. Canada, 2006).