Does my spouse get an open work permit if I study in Canada?

For most programmes, no. That changed on 21 January 2025, and a great deal of what is still being repeated online describes the old rules.
Your spouse or common-law partner can be considered for an open work permit if you are studying in a master's degree programme of 16 months or longer, in a doctoral programme, in one of the eligible programmes IRCC lists by province, or in a university programme in one of the named professional fields. Those fields are dentistry, law, medicine, optometry, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, nursing, education and engineering.
The 16-month minimum applies to master's programmes only. There is no minimum length set for doctoral, professional or eligible-programme study.
One point worth correcting, because it is wrong in a lot of places. There is no requirement about how far through your programme you are when your spouse first applies. The condition about not being in the last term of your study programme applies to extending an open work permit, not to getting one in the first place.
If your programme does not qualify, your spouse has not been refused anything. Their route is a visitor application instead, which is a separate application with its own test, and it is generally assessed on whether they will leave at the end of the authorised stay rather than on your studies.
The practical consequence is that programme choice now decides whether your family can work, which makes it a decision worth making before you apply rather than after you arrive.
Source: IRCC, Help your spouse or common-law partner work in Canada, canada.ca, updated 3 February 2026.
This is general information rather than legal advice, and it reflects the page as it stood on the date above. Related: Which jobs make your spouse eligible for an open work permit?