Canada allows international students to work over 20 hours per week off-campus

The Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC) Sean Fraser made an announcement concerning international students and addressing the Canadian labor shortage on October 7.

From November 15, 2022 until December 31, 2023, international students who are in Canada and have off-campus work authorization on their study permit will be allowed to work over 20 hours per week off-campus while class is in session.

There is no limit to the number of hours a student can work. However, minister emphasized that students should not compromise their study schedule. Besides that, they can work as many hours as they like.

Foreign nationals who submitted a study permit application on October 7 will also be affected by this interim measure. Their applications will also qualify for this policy if Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada approve them.

In addition, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is starting a pilot program this month to simplify the processing of study permit extensions. In this pilot, all candidates have already been granted permission to study in Canada, so applications have a consistently high acceptance rate.

To be eligible for inclusion in the pilot to automate study permit extensions, applications must meet specific criteria. Applications that do not meet the standards will be manually assessed by officers. The automatic method will not reject or suggest applications. It is the officer’s responsibility to make any decision regarding a denial of an application.

With the purpose of enhancing client service, this test will focus on a select sample of candidates who may have their extended study permits dealt with much more rapidly. This trial will be expanded to help police minimize processing times and focus on more difficult cases if it proves effective.

More than 500,000 international students currently studying in Canada will benefit from this interim amendment, according to the IRCC. Furthermore, it will contribute to the reduction of Canadian labour shortages.

Over 119,000 study permit extensions were approved by IRCC in 2021, with a 97% acceptance rate. There were more than 135,000 applications processed between January 1 and August 31, 2022, and 96% of them were accepted.

Between January 1, 2022, and the end of August 2022, more than 452,000 study permit applications were processed. 367,000 applications were processed within the same period in 2021, a record year. This is a 23% gain.