Canada raises work hour cap for international students

Starting this September, international students in Canada will be allowed to work outside the campus for up to 24 hours per week, Immigration Minister Marc Miller has announced. International students, who depend on off-campus work to fund their studies and stay in Canada, could work earlier for 20 hours a week.

This change comes as the temporary increase to the work limit during the pandemic was set to expire today.

The new 24-hour work limit aims to strike a balance between allowing students to contribute to the economy and ensuring they can prioritise their studies.

These norms matter most to Indians because students from India form the largest group of international students studying in Canada.

The Indian students help the Canadian government maintain the minimum wage, which is now at 17.30 Canadian dollars.

With most standard work shifts being 8 hours long, the new rule translates to students being able to work up to 3 part-time shifts per week.

“Looking at best practices and policies in other like-minded countries, most of them limit the number of working hours for international students. Canada’s rules need to be aligned, or we will find our programmes attracting more and more applicants whose primary intent is to work and not study,” Miller said.

The previous policy, implemented in October 2022, waived the existing 20-hour limit on off-campus work for international students. This measure aimed to address labour shortages faced by businesses while also helping students cope with rising living costs during the pandemic recovery.

The 24-hour limit was chosen after careful consideration. While many students currently work more than the previous 20-hour limit, exceeding 24 hours could hurt academic performance, according to Miller.

Critics have raised concerns that allowing too much work could weaken the programme’s focus on education. To address this, the government will temporarily reinstate the 20-hour limit until September.

There are no restrictions on work hours during school breaks, such as summer or winter breaks.

The department previously warned that exceeding work limits could distract from studies.

Indians form the biggest chunk of international students in Canada.

In 2022, 2.26 lakh students out of 5.5 lakh international students in Canada were from India, according to Canadian government data. And there were 3.2 lakh Indians staying in Canada on student visas, and also helping its economy as gig workers.