A worker with a PGWP expiring and a CRS of 495 asked about filing a work-permit extension purely to buy time, and about the OINP Foreign Worker stream. The thread's answers are mostly a warning.
What members reported:- An ineligible extension buys far less time than people think. Members reported IRCC decisions coming back in under a month in some cases — one reply cited a refusal in about 3 weeks. The old assumption of many months of maintained status while an application sits in queue no longer held; members attributed the speed to new automated triage that quickly refuses clearly ineligible applications. (Flag: processing speeds and IRCC's automation practices are time-bound and may have changed since this discussion.)
- Work after a refused extension may not count. A member noted that once the extension is refused, work experience accumulated during that period risks not being counted for immigration programs — a serious hidden cost, on top of losing status.
- Employer-dependent PNP streams need employer cooperation. For OINP's employer-tied streams, the employer must provide substantial documentation; if your company won't engage, that route is effectively closed regardless of your own eligibility.
Practical takeaway: if your PGWP is running out, build your plan around applications you are actually eligible for (PNP streams where your employer will cooperate, raising CRS, or a different permit category with a genuine basis). Filing an extension you don't qualify for is likely to be refused quickly, can taint the work experience earned while waiting, and leaves a refusal on your record.