New IRCC data on post-graduation work permits offers a tempting headline: the refusal rate in one stream climbed from 12% to 21%.<\/p>\n
Stop there and you will misread it. The full picture is more precise, and for most applicants considerably better.<\/p>\n
IRCC records PGWP applications in two categories:<\/p>\n
Most PGWP applicants apply from within Canada at the end of their studies, and those applications are recorded as WP-EXT<\/strong>. The WP stream is the smaller of the two.<\/p>\n Their outcomes diverge sharply:<\/p>\n WP (new work permit):<\/strong><\/p>\n WP-EXT (in-Canada extension):<\/strong><\/p>\n Both streams combined:<\/strong><\/p>\n Three things at once:<\/p>\n So the accurate headline is this: apply from inside Canada, in status and on time, and your approval odds remain above 97%.<\/strong> The elevated risk is concentrated in the other stream.<\/p>\n The data does not give reasons, but the timing aligns with known changes: from November 2024 a field-of-study requirement applied to many non-degree programs, and language requirements were added.<\/p>\n Applicants who cannot use the in-Canada extension route \u2014 those whose status has expired, or who apply from outside \u2014 are precisely the group most exposed to those new conditions.<\/p>\n Figures from IRCC operational data, compiled by OPP-DART-2026-38691, source IRCC-EDW (CBR) refreshed 2 March 2026, covering 1 January 2023 to 30 November 2025. Approval rates are calculated as approved divided by the sum of approved and refused.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n New IRCC data on post-graduation work permits offers a tempting headline: the refusal rate in one stream climbed from 12% to 21%. Stop there and you will misread it. The full picture is more precise, and for most applicants considerably better. Two streams, two different outcomes IRCC records PGWP applications in two categories: WP \u2014 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23175,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[68,22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-study-in-canada-en","category-study-in-canada"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22649"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22649\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22707,"href":"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22649\/revisions\/22707"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/avalvisa.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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What actually happened<\/h2>\n
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Why the WP stream got harder<\/h2>\n
What to do about it<\/h2>\n
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Source<\/h2>\n
Related reading<\/h2>\n
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