The PGWP field of study list changed twice
In force 25 June 2025
178 fields came off the list and 119 went on. Nine days later IRCC put some of the removed ones back. Which list applies to you was fixed years earlier.
Rule changes and updates from the firm
Programmes close, codes split and deadlines move, usually with a notice and little else. Each rule change below is recorded with the date it took effect, and with the page that now carries the current detail.
SUV work permit closed, no pilot announced
In force 19 December 2025
IRCC shut the Start-up Visa work permit, then the programme itself, and promised a replacement pilot in 2026. Nine months into 2026 it has not published one.
Co-op work permits are no longer required
In force 1 April 2026
Post-secondary students no longer file a separate permit for a placement their programme requires. A withdrawal letter on a pending application is the change working, not a refusal.
Super visa income now counts two years
In force 31 March 2026
Two alternatives were added to how a host proves income, and one of them lets the visiting parent's own income count toward the total.
Parent and grandparent sponsorship paused
In force 15 July 2026
Sponsorship processing continues for files already filed. What stopped is the front door: no new interest to sponsor forms, and no invitations.
Ontario replaced its entrepreneur stream
In force 25 June 2026
The province did not pause the entrepreneur route or revise it. It removed it, and put a worker stream in its place.
Saskatchewan closed its entrepreneur pathways
In force 27 March 2025
A closure worth reading carefully, because the programme's own page still sets out the requirements underneath the notice.
The caregiver pilots are paused, not delayed
In force 19 December 2025
A pause with no end date is a different thing from a delay, and it changes what somebody waiting should do next.
Express Entry category rounds for 2026
In force 18 February 2026
Ten categories now sit behind Express Entry category rounds, four of them added this year. Nobody applies to one. IRCC reads eligibility off the profile already in the pool.
Family open work permits narrowed
In force 21 January 2025
Family open work permits stopped following the principal applicant's status and started following what that person actually does. Dependent children of workers lost eligibility outright.
Ontario tenant compensation gets a carve-out
In force 21 September 2026
A landlord who gives 120 days of notice for their own use will not owe the month's rent. Ontario tenant compensation survives everywhere else, and two other changes land the other way.
Ontario apostille replaced a consulate trip
In force 11 January 2024
Canada joined the Hague Apostille Convention, and an Ontario notarised document bound for a signatory country now takes one authentication step instead of two.
Ontario speed cameras repealed, three stay
In force 14 November 2025
Part XIV.1 is gone from the Highway Traffic Act. Ontario speed cameras are repealed, and the three other camera Parts are still in the statute and still issuing tickets.
Ontario accident benefits changed on 1 July
In force 1 July 2026
Two things happened to Ontario accident benefits on the same day. Four Parts of the schedule became optional, and the rule sending medical expenses to a workplace health plan first was reversed.
Family Law Rules: which filing portal applies
In force 14 October 2025
Since 14 October 2025 the Family Law Rules name the software a filing goes through, and the answer in Toronto is not the answer everywhere else in Ontario.
The Small Claims Court limit is now $50,000
In force 1 October 2025
Two figures moved on the same day. The Small Claims Court limit went to $50,000, and the amount a judgment has to exceed before it can be appealed went to $5,000.
Dangerous operation suspensions, not in force
Ontario has legislated a roadside licence suspension and an impound for dangerous operation. Both sit in the statute book waiting for a proclamation date nobody has named.
Intra-company transfer codes: C61, C62 and C63
The split matters most for the ceiling on how long somebody can stay, which now depends on which code the permit was issued under.
Reading these notes
What a dated note is for
2 answered here
A note is dated and stays as written. The service page it links is rewritten the day the rule moves, and the full list of what the firm handles is under practice areas. Both are needed, for different readers.
Why are these separate from the service pages?
Because the two answer different questions. A service page answers what a rule is now, and it is rewritten in place the day that rule moves, which means it carries no memory of what it said last year. That is the right behaviour for somebody working out where they stand today.
It is the wrong behaviour for somebody who acted on the old position. A note keeps the date, names what moved, and stays where it is once written.
How current is each note?
Each records the position as it stood on the date shown, and none of them is maintained as current after the fact. Where a programme has moved again since, the service page linked at the foot of the note carries the position now.
Neither is a substitute for advice on a file. A rule change lands differently depending on what stage an application has reached: a file already filed, a file about to be filed and a file still being assembled can each be affected differently by the same announcement, and the only way to know which applies is to look at the file itself.
Speak to someone this week
Rathod Law Firm reads the rule changes so a file does not miss one. Consultations in Brampton, weekdays from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
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