An applicant's only qualifying employer changed its name (same address, same staff, same signatory) after the reference letter and salary certificate had been issued on the old letterhead, and asked how to document this for a PR application.
What members advised:
- Either approach works, but reissuing is cleaner. The two options — (a) keep the old letter and add a name-change certificate plus LOE, or (b) get the reference letter reissued on the new letterhead — are both acceptable. Members recommended option (b) where possible: a current-dated letter on the new letterhead that explicitly states it is reissued due to the company's name change and names the former entity.
- Since nothing had been submitted yet, start clean. Because the old letter hadn't gone to IRCC, members agreed the best move was a fresh letter on the new letterhead reading '[New name], formerly known as [old name]' — no confusion for the officer at all.
- Back it with something official if you can. A name change normally goes through a legal process; members suggested obtaining the legal document recording it. For employers without a web presence (this was a hospital with no website), a certificate from an authorized signatory on the new letterhead is the fallback.
- Same signatory helps. The signing person, contact details, and address were unchanged — worth pointing out in the LOE, since it lets IRCC verify continuity easily.