I am here on a work permit but unfortunately the comapany that brought me over here isn't doing so well currently and had to lay off a bunch of people and sadly I'm one of them.

I'm wondering about my status now. HR at the company said that I'm fine to stay here as long as the expiration date on my work permit says, which gives me until sept 2015. So I have plenty of time to stay here and look for another job in canada.

I just wanted to know what people on here have experienced/ understand about how it works.

Would I be able to take a short break and leave the country and come back to find a new job? As far as I know there is no way for the border control to know whether I am still employed or not, right?

Any advice appreciated.

Yep. So basically you're now on a visitor visa until Sept 2015. Good luck finding something else.

[What job was you doing

Looks like the OP might be in something IT related (can you tell I know nothing about it?!) from his blog.

But people being laid off on TWP's is unfortunately something that happens regularly on this forum, that's why the advice is always to apply for PR as soon as you possible can, ideally within a month or two of getting to Canada. Once you've got PR you've got a safety net, but not before unfortunately.

I'm sorry to hear about your lay-off. Been there a few times.

Good luck finding something new

While I am not able to confirm this, some one I know who is on work permit said that in the event he gets laid off his work permit becomes an open work permit which would enable other employers to employ him.
This needs to be confirmed, please excuse if it's incorrect.

That is wrong - it becomes a visitor visa. If he has a spouse who has an open work permit on the back of his work permit, that remains as an open work permit.

I thought the spouses open work permit only remained active as long as the twp holder remained with the company who got the original LMO, and if they ceased to employ then both work permits become visitor permits? (I stand to be corrected though).

You are hereby corrected mandymoochops, sorry.

You need to read the wiki

Nope - which is why, if you are able, you should always get your spouse an OWP, even if they don't want to work initially - should you be laid off and you need money, your spouse then go work whilst you look for another job.

I was under the impression that you had to be in the country for 6 months before applying for PR.
That's what I've read for Alberta anyway,please tell me that I am wrong as I will apply sooner if it is indeed possible!

http://www.albertacanada.com/immigra...-to-apply.aspx

That would depend on whether you are applying through the skilled or semi-skilled AINP.

If you are skilled, there is no minimum time in Alberta requirement, you can apply for PNP with a job offer and not actually having been in Alberta.

If you are semi-skilled, there is a minimum time of 6 months.

Thanks for the replies guys.

@Graham from yorkshire
I'm a programmer in the games industry.

So I'm free to stay, but are there any complications if I leave and re-enter? The wiki article says that I can only re-enter as a visitor. But would that be a bad thing to do? Like would it affect me in any way getting a new LMO/work permit for a new job?

There's a few adverts for jobs in that industry here: http://ca.indeed.com/jobs?q=Video+Ga...mmer&l=Ontario

Thanks for confirming.