Caution: work-authorization rules around program completion are precise and change; verify against IRCC's current guidance rather than relying on a community thread.A student working full-time (course ending mid-April, study permit valid to September) worried about the window between course end and PGWP application — the college needed ~2 weeks to issue transcripts/completion letters, and they'd heard you can't work in that gap. The thread offered:
- The more reassuring reading: you can work until you receive final grades. One member's understanding was that the program isn't "complete" until you receive the completion letter/final marks — so work remains authorized until then, and once the letter arrives you apply for PGWP promptly. If correct, the feared gap largely disappears. Verify this interpretation with IRCC before relying on it.
- The conservative route: take a leave of absence for the gap. Members reported people simply arranging unpaid leave with the employer for the uncertain period — a clean solution that depends only on your agreement with the employer.
- One suggestion to avoid: having the employer "hold the paycheque." A member mentioned people asking employers to delay paying for that period. Deferring pay doesn't change when the work happened — if working in the gap isn't authorized, this only obscures it. Choose leave, not creative payroll.