Significant steps by Canada for International Students

Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship, Honourable Sean Fraser, announced on Friday (i.e., October 7, 2022) that international students in Canada holding off-campus work permits on their study permits are exempt from the 20-hour week rule, citing a labor shortage in the country, effective from November 15 this year till December 31, 2023.

Foreigners who have applied for a study permit today can also benefit from this temporary modification, provided their application is accepted.

While Canadian firms aggressively sought to fill roughly 1 million job opportunities in July, the employment vacancy rate in Canada was 5.4% in July 2022, down from a peak of 6.0% in April 2022, and employers are facing enormous hurdles in locating and maintaining the workforce they require during times of economic recovery and expansion. The government of Canada continues to take concrete steps to meet current manpower needs.

Fraser stated that “There are more job opportunities than there are workers in almost every community in Canada“. He added that “lifting restrictions” would provide students with a wider variety of job opportunities, making them less likely to fall victim to “unscrupulous employers”.

Currently in Canada, more than 500,000 international students are eligible to work overtime, which shows that international students are playing a huge role in addressing labor shortages as they continue their education.

With this initiative, not only international students get greater opportunities to gain valuable work experience in Canada, but it will also increase the availability of the workforce to support Canada’s post-pandemic growth.

Fraser also announced a pilot project to automate some college renewal application approvals to address backlogs.

Important Points

• From January 1, 2022, to the end of August 2022, over 452,000 student permit applications were processed. During the same record period in 2021, 367,000 applications were processed. This equates to a 23% increase.
• Most post-secondary international students can work on-and/or off-campus with the work permit printed directly on the study permit.
• Historically, nearly half of post-secondary international students in Canada reported having an income while studying.
• Students who are eligible to work on campus are not subject to any restrictions on on-campus working hours.