An applicant filed a PGWP application online (26 Jan 2022) and kept working full time. IRCC added a letter to the online application saying they could work until 27 May 2022
or until a decision was made — and they worried what happens if processing overruns that date.
- You can keep working on implied (maintained) status until the decision. The thread's key answer: because the PGWP application was submitted while the previous status was valid, the applicant continues to be authorized to work full time on implied status until IRCC decides the application — the letter's date is not a hard stop on that right.
- Raise a webform before the letter's date anyway. The same member advised submitting an IRCC webform ahead of the stated date, requesting a decision and putting the situation on record. It costs nothing and creates a paper trail if an employer or border officer asks questions.
- Know where the letter lives. For others looking for the same document: it appears under the update/correspondence section of the online application, not as a separate mailing.
(Terminology note: what members call "implied status" is now officially "maintained status." This thread is from 2022 — verify current IRCC guidance on maintained status for PGWP applicants, but the principle described here matches the standard rule.)