A student who received a provincial nomination (with an LMIA-exempt work permit support letter) asked whether applying for a work permit means cancelling the study permit. The thread's answers were reassuring and practical:
- Your study permit is not cancelled. You can hold a nomination, apply for a work permit, and continue studying. One member was direct: "Continue with your study. You can apply for a work permit at the same time as well" — or skip the work permit entirely if you don't need to work.
- The support letter makes the work permit LMIA-exempt. A nominee work permit backed by the province's support letter doesn't need a separate labour market assessment.
- You can study until your study permit's expiry. Members confirmed the study permit remains valid to its printed date even after you obtain a work permit.
- Check the remarks on the new work permit. A useful detail: the work permit itself states whether the holder is eligible to study — read that annotation once issued, since it governs what you can do going forward.
- The border 'flagpole' shortcut — treat as historical. One member suggested driving to the border to flagpole and get the work permit issued same-day. This is time-bound advice: Canada has since sharply restricted flagpoling for work/study permit issuance, so apply online through IRCC rather than counting on a border turn-around.
If you want to work full-time before graduating, you do need the work permit — a study permit alone caps off-campus hours.