They are not law, but CIC holds all the power here in that they can cause incredible delays and frustration for applicants.Matthew Iwama said:E-mails from CIC are not law either. Only the IRPA, IRPR and Case Law are law.
I don't know all the ins and outs of the rules, and why some permits can be bridged while others can't. But to ignore anecdotal cases of what has actually happened in real life, would be foolish. Even if CIC is wrong and they should not be claiming these people are working illegally, really what solace is that to the applicant that is "caught"? It will take thousands of dollars in lawyer fees and well over a years time to go through the appeals/court process to get the ruling overturned.
So it's important that new applicants today expecting to continue working on an expired IEC via "implied" status, know what has happened to others that have tried. It's irrelevant if their or their lawyer's or consultant's, or CIC's own call center agents' interpretation of the rules tells them they are right in doing so... they are still taking a risk that CIC will claim they are working illegally, and then will face the consequences.