Maintained status previously, and commonly known as Implied status, means when a visitor, worker or student ( holder of a temporary status) has applied for an extension of their existing status or a change in status, before their status expires, while physically being in Canada.

For example, if you are an international student whose study permit has expired, however, you applied to extend your stay in Canada as a student before the expiry of your permit, your status stays “maintained”. This means that you can legally continue to study in Canada under the same conditions as your previous study permit.

Please note if you have applied to change your status in Canada, for example, students applying for a work permit or vice versa, while you can be in Canada with valid status, you may not necessarily be allowed to assume your future status while on maintained status or before your new permit is actually issued.

For example, a worker who has applied for a study permit to change their status in Canada to study, may not be able to start studying on maintained status, and in fact, will have to wait for the actual study permit to be issued to start studying.

A very common exemption to this is the Post-graduate work permit. If a student has applied for a post-graduate work permit and is on maintained status, they may be able to work full time while awaiting the issuance of their work permit.

To assess your eligibility and understand work/ study authorizations in your specific circumstances, or for help in seeking admissions in new programs or extension applications, contact us now and talk to one of our consultants.