Perpetual

So, asking yet another question, hope it's okay to ask so many! I've looked through the info I could find online but been unable to find a clear answer on this one.

My husband used to be a PR of Canada, like ten or 12 years ago now I think and hasn't been back in about that long so he can no longer claim that PR status. Since I got approved to do a master's at the University of Toronto, he will be applying for a work permit to be able to work while I'm studying. He applied and was successful in relinquishing his PR status which we knew needed to happen before he could apply for anything else (even though he can't enter Canada as a PR after so long, he still had to officially relinquish it).

Question is, should we preempt any queries by CIC by explaining the history of his ex status in Canada or should we just apply as normal and mention it as required on his work permit application? He is a bit worried they might not want to grant him a work permit because he had PR but let it go. I tend to think it'll be fine but is there any reason to be concerned? I'd appreciate any insight from those familiar with the rules around this. Thanks

Former Lancastrian

The only concern I see is CIC thinking that because he was a former PR and now applying for a work permit is will he leave the country?
If he is a UK citizen he could travel to Canada with you. On arrival you would present your documents to be issued with your study permit. at that point he could then apply for his spousal open work permit based on the back of your study permit and pay the appropriate fees.

Perpetual

Thanks. See that's a scary prospect for us, applying at the point of entry. Aside from the fact that we'll be travelling from Australia with two small children and will not want to be at the airport any longer than necessary, what if he doesn't get the work permit? It makes it completely impossible for us to be in Canada if that happens as we will need his income. We have a good financial backing to sustain us but not for a whole year which is the duration of my master's.

I think what you say about the guarantee that he'll leave is a very valid point and probably what he's most concerned about. We are providing a return ticket as proof we will leave once my degree is done, but perhaps we need to come up with other evidence of this just to be sure.

I thought maybe explaining the circumstances of his former PR status (ie. his ex wife is Canadian, so he was there because of her, but now they are no longer together there is no tie for his there. But would our explaining that without prompting from CIC be viewed as a case of 'methinks thou dost protest too much'? Just over thinking things here perhaps, we will probably just apply as we are doing already and see how we go!

Perpetual

Sorry, I just realised I should clarify that: we COULD sustain ourselves financially for the year on the money we are bringing over with us, but really we don't want to exhaust all our funds and it would be much better for my husband to be able to work while we're there. Once I'm done with the program, we would rather be able to come back to Australia or go to the UK and possibly put a deposit on a house, rather than be starting from scratch financially because he couldn't work while we were in Canada.