Under Canadian immigration law, all temporary residents have an automatically imposed condition that they are required to leave Canada after their authorized period of stay.

However, Section 181 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (IRPR) states that a temporary resident is able to apply to extend their period of authorized stay in Canada before it ends. Individuals who exercise this ability can remain in Canada until Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) makes a decision on their application. During this process, the applicant is considered to continue to have legal status as a Canadian temporary resident.

To benefit from maintained status (previously known as “implied status”), one must closely follow the laws and guidelines provided by the Canadian government.

An applicant needs to be aware of when their temporary status is due to expire, how their extension application may affect their temporary residence conditions in Canada, as well as rules regarding remaining in Canada during the extension process.

First, one must be careful to submit their extension application before their existing status expires. IRCC encourages you to submit your application with enough time to spare so that you avoid potential complications to your Canadian immigration status.