Work permit in passport

[Aiwendil]

I asked this in another subforum, but maybe this is the better place. I'm an American citizen currently working in Canada. My passport expires in May and I'm preparing to submit it together with an application by mail to receive a new passport. However, my Canadian work permit, which is stapled inside my passport (I'm not sure why; last time they just handed it to me separately) does not expire until 2022.

Should I mail the passport as is, with my work permit inside, or should I remove the work permit before sending it?

Specifically, I'm concerned a) that I don't want to be without my work permit, and I'm not 100% certain whether it will be returned with my new passport, but also b) that removing a stapled document from the passport may count as "damaging" the passport and lead to complications with renewal.

Any help would be most appreciated. Thanks!

 

[agnelsavery]

You ’ll get your old one back with the new passport, please do not remove any page from your passport.

 

[Aiwendil]

Thanks. To be clear, I did not intend to remove a page, only to unstaple the work permit. I'm still not clear on whether that is permitted. But if I'm guaranteed to receive the old passport and work permit back, I guess I will leave it in.