The new temporary measure, announced by Sean Fraser, Immigration Minister, is intended to alleviate Canada’s historical labor shortages. Fraser claims that this temporary measure will allow more than 500,000 international students to work longer hours.
International students studying in Canada with off-campus work authorization will be able to work more than 20 hours per week while classes are in session from November 15th, 2022, through December 31st, 2023.
The temporary measure will also apply to foreign nationals who submitted a study permit application before today. If Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada approve the application, they will be eligible to receive this policy.
This major reform was announced by Sean Fraser, Canada’s Immigration Minister, in Ottawa this morning.
Fraser explained that this measure is intended to address the current labor shortages in Canada.
Canada is facing a labor shortage and a low unemployment rate by historical standards. Statistics Canada earlier this morning reported that Canada’s unemployment rate dropped to 5.4% in September from 5.4 percent in August.
International students may be allowed to work on-campus for up to 20 hours per semaine if they apply to study in a Canadian educational program. This restriction is lifted during holidays and summer breaks. This policy allows international students to provide for their own financial needs while also ensuring that they can continue to study and not be distracted by work in Canada. The Canadian government has relaxed this rule due to nearly one million vacant jobs.
Fraser stated that this would allow more than 500,000 international students to work longer hours.
Canada is a top destination for international students. It hosted 620,000 international students in 2021, an increase of nearly three times over the last two decades. Canada issued almost 450,000 new study permits in the last year alone. Many factors make Canada a popular destination for students, including the high quality of its educational institutions, multiculturalism, and affordability of the Canadian currency, as well as the numerous work and permanent residence opportunities available.
Fraser also noted today that Canada had processed more than 452,000 applications for study permits between January and August 2022. This is a 23% increase over the 370,000 processed in the same period of 2021. Canada is now the only country to have broken the previous year’s record for processing study permits in a single calendar year.
According to the Canadian Bureau for International Education’s (CBIE) research, most international students say they would like to remain in Canada as permanent residents after completing their studies.
Statistics Canada research has shown that international students who are granted permanent residence in Canada integrate into the labor market quickly due to their Canadian work experience and French and English language proficiency.
This is why Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada offers a variety of programs to help international graduates stay in Canada and work here.
The popular Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) is available from IRCC. International students can apply for the PGWP to obtain an open work permit with a validity period that matches their Canadian education program. Open work permits permit foreign nationals to work in Canada for any employer. PGWP is valid for a maximum of three years. PGWP holders will then gain the Canadian work experience they often require to be eligible for economic-class immigration programs. PGWP holders often seek permanent residence through the Canadian Experience Class program, which is one of the most popular immigration routes offered by IRCC.
Canada’s provinces and territories also offer work experience for international graduates. The Quebec and Provincial Nominee Programs (PNP) streams offer permanent residence paths to encourage international graduates to stay in Canada.
In recent years, Canada has looked increasingly to international students as permanent residents. This was especially true during the pandemic. To reach its goal of landing more than 405,000 immigrants by 2021, IRCC heavily relied on international graduates. This broke Canada’s record for the most landed immigrants per year. IRCC achieved this by inviting and landing large numbers of Canadian Experience Class candidates. It also introduced the Temporary Residence to Permanent Residence program (TR2PR), which was limited in time and allowed approximately 90,000 temporary residents to apply for immigration.
Justin Trudeau has given Minister Fraser a mandate to find additional pathways for students and workers abroad to obtain permanent residence through Express Entry. Fraser also presented a strategy in September that outlined how the government plans to assist more temporary residents in obtaining permanent residence. It consists of five pillars. One is modernizing the immigration system to speed up application processing times. When the Canadian government presents its new Immigration Levels Plan 2023-2025, we will be able to gain more insight into its newcomer strategy.
