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Alberta Wildfires Special Assistance Measures
Tuesday, May 31, 2016
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has implemented special measures for people who were affected by the wildfires in Alberta.
If your documents were lost of destroyed, they can be replaced at no cost until August 3, 2016.
These include:
- citizenship certificates
- permanent resident cards
- permanent resident travel document (paper or electronic)
- confirmation of permanent residence
- verification of status
- work permits
- study permits
- visitor records
If you are on a temporary work or study permit, the following measures are now in place:
- Work permit holders whose work permit is expiring may continue to work under the same terms as the expiring work permit if they apply for a new work permit by August 3, 2016.
- Open work permit holders may work for any employer in Canada.
- Work and study permit holders will also be permitted to apply for an extension of their work or study permit even after the initial work or study permit has expired if the application is made, in the case of workers, by August 3, 2016, or in the case of students, by November 3, 2016.
- The requirement to be actively studying and making progress toward a degree, diploma or certificate has also been waived until November 3, 2016, for study permit holders whose designated learning institution has been affected by the wildfires.
If you have an employer-specific work permit and your employer is no longer available due to the wildfires, you can:
To qualify for replacement documents and other special measures, you must identify yourself to IRCC and be able to demonstrate that your residence, place of work and/or designated learning institution location has been directly affected by the fires.
IRCC has a special email for these cases: [email protected]. All correspondence must be marked “URGENT: ALBERTA FIRE”.