Temporary permits
Work permit still in process
Employer waiting, start date slipping. The notes can show whether the hold-up is the LMIA, your documents, or a check.
You have not been refusedA quiet file is not a bad file. Most of this page is about finding out which stage your application actually reached, because the online account shows very little.
Why Work permit files go quiet
A work permit file depends on more than you — an LMIA, an employer compliance position, or an exemption category all have to hold up under assessment.
Where the employer's paperwork is being verified, nothing in your account changes and you have no visibility into that verification at all.
Medicals are required for some occupations and some countries, and an outstanding medical will hold a file silently.
Check these before assuming it is stuck
A long wait is not always a stalled wait. Rule these out first: several are things applicants miss.
- Confirm the LMIA has not expired — an expired LMIA stops the file
- Check the published processing time for your permit type and country
- Confirm biometrics are recorded
- Ask the employer whether they received any compliance enquiry
IRCC publishes live processing times, and they change often: check the current time for work permits (opens in a new tab). We do not quote a number here, because any number we printed would soon be out of date.
What your GCMS notes can show on your Work permit file
You do not have to be refused to request your file. An application that is still in process has notes too, and for a file that has gone silent they are often the clearest way to see what has happened.
- Whether the LMIA or exemption basis has been verified
- Officer remarks on whether your experience matches the offered role
- Medical, biometric and security screening status, where released
- Any employer-related concern recorded on the file
- Requests for documents and whether replies were logged
The limitsYour GCMS notes are a snapshot of what was recorded on your file at the time IRCC processed your request — not a live tracker. They will not give you a decision date. What they can show, subject to what IRCC withholds, is which stage your file reached, which checks are recorded as outstanding, and whether anything was asked of you that you never answered.
Signals that something is genuinely wrong
If your notes show any of these, the delay has a cause you can act on rather than simply wait out.
- A note that the applicant may not be able to perform the work sought
- An expired LMIA recorded on file
- An employer compliance concern
Check the last kind first, because it is the one you can fix today: IRCC asked for something and never got a reply, for example because the request went to an agent’s email or to an address you no longer use. The file can then sit, waiting on you.
Officer decision notes
You may already have the officer’s reasons
IRCC now sends the officer's decision note with most refusals: temporary-resident applications refused since 29 July 2025 (visitor visas, super and transit visas, visitor records, study and work permits and their extensions) and permanent-residence applications refused since 26 May 2026. It does not send them for eTAs, temporary resident permits or humanitarian and compassionate applications.
How to check: Go through the refusal documents IRCC sent to you or to your representative, including those in your IRCC account. Look for a note written by the officer explaining why the application was refused, separate from the standard refusal letter.
A decision note gives the final officer's reasons. A records request can also return the case history, earlier notes and documents on your file, subject to what IRCC withholds.
Thinking of Federal Court review? IRCC says to state in your application that you have not received the reasons for refusal, even if you received a decision note.
Source: IRCC, “Officer decision notes” (opens in a new tab), checked 23 September 2026.
The escalation ladder, in order
IRCC’s case-specific enquiry web form (opens in a new tab) is free. More on each step: when an application goes quiet.
Questions about Work permit delays
See what your file says
Your Work permit file has a written record. We can make a records request for you, and read the notes with you when they come back. You can also request it yourself, free, under the Privacy Act.
