Original work permit Canada visa vs counterfoil — what you actually receive in 2026
There's an ongoing confusion among first-time Canada work permit applicants — particularly applicants from India, the Philippines, Nigeria, and Pakistan — between three documents: the port-of-entry Letter of Introduction (LOI), the visa counterfoil in your passport, and the work permit document itself. They look similar, they arrive at different stages, and only one of them is the actual permit you'll show your employer in Canada.
This is what each one is, when you receive it, and what to do if any of them are missing or wrong.
The three documents — what they actually are
1. The Letter of Introduction (LOI) — also called the "port-of-entry letter"
After IRCC approves your work permit application abroad, you receive a PDF letter via your online account titled "Notice of Permit Approval" or "Port of Entry Introduction Letter." This is NOT your work permit. It is a letter authorizing you to:
- Travel to Canada
- Present yourself at the border (airport, land port, marine port)
- Receive your actual work permit from a CBSA officer at the port
The LOI is on plain white paper, has the IRCC logo, your name, the case file number, and key job details (employer name, NOC, wage, location, validity). It is valid for the duration printed on it — usually matching your passport validity or the LMIA period, whichever is shorter.
You print this LOI. You carry it in your hand luggage. You do not check it.
2. The visa counterfoil
This is the sticker glued into your passport by a Canadian visa office (VAC). It's the rectangular adhesive label with your photo, biographical data, a counterfoil number, and the validity dates.
The counterfoil is only required if you're a national of a country that requires a Temporary Resident Visa (TRV) to fly to Canada. Visa-exempt nationals (US citizens, most of Europe, Australia, etc.) don't get a counterfoil — they fly to Canada on their passport plus an eTA.
Counterfoil-required nationals include: India, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Nigeria, Egypt, Iran, Turkey, Brazil, Mexico (for certain travel), and most of Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
The counterfoil itself is a travel document. It says: "the holder of this passport is authorized to seek entry to Canada between [date] and [date] to apply for the status indicated." For work permit holders, the visa type stamped will say Single Entry or Multiple Entry, with the status code indicating "Worker" or similar.
You do not show the counterfoil to your employer. It is for travel only. You can travel on the same counterfoil multiple times if it's a multiple-entry visa.
3. The work permit (IMM 1442B)
This is the document that proves your authorization to work in Canada. It is issued by a CBSA officer at the port of entry. The actual permit:
- Is on a single sheet of paper (IMM 1442B), not a card and not in your passport
- States your full name, date of birth, country of citizenship
- States the employer name (for closed work permits) or "Open" (for open work permits)
- States the occupation / NOC (for closed permits)
- States the location of work (for closed permits, often city or province)
- States the expiry date of work authorization
This is the document you give a copy of to your employer for I-9-equivalent compliance (in Canada, this is part of the employer's record-keeping obligation under the IRPR). This is the document SIN office staff want to see. This is the document you scan and attach to applications for a Quebec Health Insurance card (RAMQ), Ontario OHIP, or other provincial services.
The timeline — from approval to permit-in-hand
| Step |
Where |
What you get |
| 1. IRCC approves your application |
Your online account |
"Notice of permit approval" email |
| 2. (Counterfoil-required nationals) Send passport to the VAC |
VFS / VAC office |
Counterfoil glued into passport, 7–14 business days |
| 3. You receive the LOI (PDF) |
Your online account |
Print and bring |
| 4. You fly to Canada |
Airport or land border |
Present passport + LOI + supporting docs to CBSA |
| 5. CBSA officer prints your IMM 1442B |
At the port |
Your actual work permit |
If you're a US citizen or another visa-exempt national, step 2 is skipped entirely — you fly on your passport and the LOI alone, and you need a valid eTA (which is linked to your passport automatically when you applied).
What officers verify at the port of entry
When you land in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Montreal, or any land port, the CBSA secondary inspection officer will:
- Confirm your identity matches the passport
- Verify the LOI is the most recent version (no expiry, no superseding application)
- Ask brief questions about the job (Who is your employer? What city? Have you worked in Canada before? What salary?)
- (For LMIA cases) Sometimes ask to see the original LMIA decision letter and offer letter
- Print and issue the IMM 1442B
The interview is short (5–15 minutes) for most permits. Bring your full document package — LMIA, offer letter, signed contract, qualifications, financial proof — in case the officer wants confirmation. If an officer is not satisfied, they can refuse entry, deport you on the next flight back, or send you to secondary for extended review. This is rare with a complete file but real.
Common errors on the IMM 1442B — fix them before leaving the airport
CBSA officers are typing your data manually under time pressure. Errors do happen. The most common:
- Wrong employer name. Especially with subsidiaries or numbered companies. The name on the permit must match what's on the LMIA or A-number employer of record.
- Wrong NOC code. Often comes from a manual transcription of a 4-digit code.
- Wrong location. Sometimes the officer prints "Canada" when the LMIA specifies a city.
- Wrong expiry date. Should match the LMIA validity, the job offer end date, or your passport expiry minus 1 day — whichever is earliest.
- Wrong conditions. Some work permits have specific conditions (e.g., "must be authorized by employer Y at location Z"). These should be printed verbatim.
Check the permit before you leave the inspection booth. If anything is wrong, ask the officer to reprint it. Once you walk out, fixing the document means a CBSA secondary appointment or a paid amendment via IRCC ($155+).
"I lost my work permit" — replacement procedure
If you lose your IMM 1442B in Canada:
- Do not apply for a new work permit. That's a different process.
- Apply for a Verification of Status (VOS) via the IRCC website. This is a $30 fee and 90+ days of processing.
- Until you receive the VOS, your employment authorization continues — IRCC has the record of your permit in its database. But you cannot prove it to a third party without the document.
- Bring your IRCC online account screen to your employer to keep payroll happy in the interim.
You cannot request a duplicate of the original IMM 1442B. The VOS replaces it functionally for ID purposes.
"My counterfoil expired but my work permit is still valid"
Common. The counterfoil is only a travel document for initial entry or re-entry. Once you're in Canada and have your IMM 1442B, you can:
- Stay in Canada on the work permit even if the counterfoil expires.
- Travel internationally only if you renew the counterfoil — either:
- Apply for a new TRV from inside Canada (no counterfoil on the passport, but the TRV gets glued in via VAC return) — processing time 4–10 weeks.
- Or apply at a visa office abroad if you happen to be outside Canada.
If you have a multi-entry counterfoil with months of validity left and an IMM 1442B with years of validity, no further action needed.
Work permit vs PR card vs PR document
To complete the picture, since these get conflated too:
- Work permit (IMM 1442B): temporary, employer-specific (closed) or open. Paper. No biometric chip.
- PR Confirmation Document (COPR): issued when you become a permanent resident. Paper, used at landing.
- PR Card: issued ~30–60 days after landing, valid 5 years. Plastic card with photo.
- Citizenship certificate: issued after citizenship grant. Paper.
None of these is interchangeable with another. Each proves a different status.
Bottom line
If you applied for a Canadian work permit and IRCC sent you what looks like a sticker in your passport, that's the visa counterfoil — it gets you to the airplane. The actual work permit (the IMM 1442B you'll show your employer) is printed by CBSA when you arrive. Treat the LOI as a boarding pass for the immigration system, not as the permit itself, and check the IMM 1442B for errors before leaving the inspection booth.
Source: Work permits — port of entry procedures and document types. canada.ca, 2026.
A small portion of this article — research support, fact-cross-checking, and copy-editing — was assisted by AI tooling. Editorial decisions, source verification, and final sign-off remain with our team. We cite primary sources from canada.ca for every factual claim.
