A member applying for a spousal open work permit for his wife (while he was on a study permit) asked whether to use his own account or a separate GC Key account for her, and how to add his 4-year-old daughter's details.
What the thread clarified:- A separate GC Key account is typically used for the spouse's SOWP application, unless the family applied together as one combined file from the outset — applying together from the start can streamline things, but if you didn't, you generally file the SOWP as its own application.
- A young dependent child (in this case, age 4) generally travels and stays in Canada on a visitor visa, not a study permit — even if she'll attend school there. Members confirmed this directly: young children accompanying a parent typically don't need a separate study permit to attend school.
- The child's visitor visa can potentially be added as a dependent under the spouse's SOWP application rather than filed as a fully separate application, which simplifies the process — though members noted this needs confirming against the current application forms.
- One caution raised: bundling dependents into an application is sometimes believed to reduce approval chances, though this wasn't confirmed as a hard rule — just something a member had heard and flagged as worth being aware of.
The practical takeaway: file your spouse's SOWP (typically via a separate account, unless applying together from the start) and add your young child as a dependent visitor rather than pursuing a study permit for her — she can attend school in Canada on that visitor status.