Most post-secondary international students are allowed to work on and off-campus. This privilege given to some international students is limited to a maximum of 20 work hours per week while class is in session, although full-time work could be permitted during scheduled academic breaks.
According to the off-campus work hours public policy announced on October 7, 2022, by the Government of Canada, from November 15, 2022, to December 31, 2023, certain students may be allowed to work off campus more than 20 hours per week during an academic session if Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has received their study permit application or renewal application for studies on or before October 7, 2022. Nonetheless, the international students who wish to work off-campus, whether for 20 hours per week or more, still have to meet the following requirements:
- Must hold a valid study permit authorizing work on and off-campus.
- Must be a student enrolled at a designated learning institution for a post-secondary program that lasts 6 months or more and leads to a degree or certificate;
- Must be studying full-time;
Even so, employers hiring international students holding a study permit need to remain careful when allowing them to work more hours for their business.
Working more than 20 hours per week must never prevent the foreign student to continue studying full time. Otherwise, as soon as the international student ceases to study full-time, the working off-campus privilege is automatically lost.
Moreover, the international students who decide to work more hours must make sure it doesn’t affect their academic success. As international students, the primary purpose of their stay in Canada remains for studies. If the foreign students find themselves in a situation of failure preventing them from completing or following the normal course of their program, this could, among other things, prevent them from applying for a new study or for a work permit and thus negatively affect their plans to immigrate to Canada.
To avoid any undesirable situation, we invite you to contact us to discuss this new measure in more detail and its impact on foreign students hired at your business.
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Contact us for more information : immigration@cainlamarre.ca
