What changed
- Post-secondary students have needed no separate co-op work permit since 1 April 2026.
- IRCC withdraws pending co-op work permit applications and writes to say so. That letter is not a refusal.
- Secondary school students still need one, and existing permit holders keep theirs for its full validity.
The notice
IRCC's notice of 9 April 2026 records a change that took effect on 1 April. An eligible post-secondary international student no longer needs a separate work permit to take part in a work placement that their programme requires, such as a co-op placement or an internship.
One permit now covers a single study programme. The department is explicit that this does not widen who is allowed to work or change temporary resident volumes. It removes an administrative step that had stopped being necessary.
Placements are still defined narrowly. They are work experiences required to complete the programme and approved by the designated learning institution, and they cover co-ops, internships, practicums and mentorship programmes.
Why is IRCC withdrawing my application?
Because the permit it asks for no longer exists for you, and this is the part of the change most likely to be misread. A student with a pending co-op work permit application needs to do nothing. IRCC will withdraw eligible and active applications and send a letter explaining that no co-op work permit is needed.
That letter is not a refusal. Nothing on the file has been assessed and found wanting, and nothing about it counts against a future application. A student who has had an application withdrawn is in a better position than before, not a worse one.
Anybody who would rather not wait for the department to act can withdraw the application themselves.
What still has to be in place
The permit requirement is gone. The conditions around it are not. The study permit has to carry work conditions, and there has to be a letter from the designated learning institution confirming that the placement is a requirement of the programme rather than an opportunity alongside it.
The placement also cannot make up more than half of the programme. A course structured so that most of it is work is outside this, whatever it is called.
There is no weekly hour cap on placement work, which is a different position from off campus work. That remains capped at 24 hours a week during a study session.
Two groups this does not cover
Secondary school students still need a co-op work permit for a placement, and the change does not reach them. The requirement and the application are unchanged.
Anybody already holding a co-op work permit can keep using it for its full validity. There is nothing to surrender and no reason to act.
The study permit page on this site sets out the conditions that attach once a permit is issued, including the off campus hours and what a breach of them costs.
The detail sits on Study permits and PGWP, which is kept current as the rules move.
