PGWP eligible programs

You can skip the list if you have a bachelor's, master's or doctoral degree, since degree graduates are exempt regardless of subject. Flight school graduates are also exempt.

The date you applied matters as much as the credential. If your study permit application went in before November 1, 2024, this field rule does not affect you. It also works that way when your PGWP application went in before November 1, 2024.

That leaves one group covered by the rule: people whose study permit application was made on November 1, 2024 or later and who took a diploma or certificate at a university, college or polytechnic. A program shorter than 8 months, or a language course, does not lead to a PGWP anyway.

The fields that count are tied to jobs with a lasting shortage of workers across Canada, and the list may shift as labour market needs shift. For 2026, the list stays as it is, so nothing will be added or taken away that year.

Every eligible field falls within one of six broad areas, from health care and social services through STEM, education, the trades, transport, and agriculture and agri-food. That STEM group covers science, technology, engineering and math.

Your field must be on the list when you apply, whether that application is for the study permit or the PGWP. This can work in your favour: a field that appeared on the list at study-permit time but was later removed may still be eligible using that permit date.

The government table holds 1,107 rows and 1,096 distinct codes. A few codes show up twice because they belong to more than one group. The group counts below include each of those 11 codes once. Health care is the largest group by a wide margin.

Most eligible fields are in health care and social services, followed by science, technology, engineering and math. Education, the trades, agriculture and transport have far fewer.

Some codes depend on the application date. 118 codes apply only when the PGWP application came in before November 1, 2024 or later than June 25, 2025. 9 codes apply only when the application came in before November 1, 2024 or later than December 17, 2024. IRCC uses the same dates for the study permit application as for the PGWP application. Ottawa last refreshed the official list of currently eligible codes on July 4, 2025, so check the date shown with your code, not only whether the code appears.

For context, the full classification has 2,119 six-digit classes, so roughly half of these fields qualify.

A CIP code is a six-digit number that classifies every post-secondary program by subject; Ottawa relies on the 2021 version of these codes. The program name alone will not settle it, because the list runs by code rather than by title.

Start with the school's website. As a DLI, or designated learning institution, your school is authorized to welcome students from abroad, and most schools post the CIP code and PGWP status for their programs. If it is not posted, ask the school directly for the six-digit code.

The Statistics Canada catalogue is also searchable on your own. Read the full entry rather than stopping at the title, since program titles can be broad and programs that sound alike can have different codes, with one eligible and the other not.

Once you have the code, check it against the current list and read the application date rule attached to it. Once you've confirmed your code, remember the timing too: you need to apply for your PGWP within 180 days of the date your school confirms you've finished your program.