- Restoration must be applied for within ninety calendar days of losing status.
- The clock starts the day after status ended. There is no grace period and no rounding.
- You must still meet the requirements of the class you are restoring to.
- You cannot work or study during the out of status period, even with an application pending.
- After ninety days restoration is unavailable and the remaining routes are discretionary.
What section 182 says
The Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations provide that where a visitor, worker or student has lost temporary resident status by failing to comply with a condition of their stay, an officer shall restore that status on application made within ninety days, if the person meets the initial requirements for their stay and has not breached other conditions.
The word shall matters. Where the requirements are established, restoration is not a discretionary favour. But establishing them is the applicant burden, and an application that asserts eligibility without demonstrating it can be refused on the evidence rather than on the law.
Restoration is only available from inside Canada. Leaving while out of status closes the route.
Counting the days
The ninety day period begins the day after your temporary resident status ended, and runs in calendar days. Weekends and holidays count. There is no rounding to the end of a month and no adjustment for processing delays at your end.
Work out the exact expiry date from your permit rather than from memory. People routinely misremember by weeks, and in a period this short a misremembered date is the difference between a routine application and an inadmissibility problem.
If you are close to day ninety, file. An application that is filed in time and later supplemented is in a completely different position from one that is filed on day ninety two in perfect order.
What you must not do while waiting
You cannot work and you cannot study during the period you are out of status, and that continues while the restoration application is pending. Doing either is a further breach of conditions, and the provision requires that you have not failed to comply with other conditions.
This is the point at which good faith causes real damage. Someone applies for restoration, believes the application protects them the way maintained status would, and keeps going to work. It does not. Restoration restores status once granted. It does not shield you in the interim.
Tell your employer and pause. A short unpaid gap is recoverable. Unauthorised work on the record is considerably harder to recover from.
After ninety days
Once the window closes, restoration is no longer available. What remains depends heavily on the circumstances and may include applying from outside Canada, or in limited situations a temporary resident permit, which is discretionary and requires a compelling reason for a person who is otherwise inadmissible to remain.
The other reality is enforcement. Remaining in Canada without status for an extended period increases exposure to a removal process, and a removal order carries consequences well beyond the immediate.
If you are past ninety days, the position is not hopeless and it is genuinely worse. It is also the point at which advice moves from useful to necessary.
When exactly does the ninety days start?
The day after your temporary resident status ended, counted in calendar days including weekends and holidays.
Can I work while my restoration application is being processed?
No. You cannot work or study during the out of status period, and that continues while the application is pending. Doing so can cause the application to fail.
Is restoration guaranteed if I apply in time?
No. The Regulations say status shall be restored where the requirements are met, but you must establish that they are met. Evidence decides it.
What if I am past ninety days?
Restoration is unavailable. Remaining options may include applying from outside Canada or, in limited circumstances, a temporary resident permit. This is the point to take advice.
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