Recent Changes That Benefit Students on a Student Work Permit in Canada

In Canada about two or three years ago, the legislation involving student work permits was changed so that a student who was here on a student visa was permitted to work off campus up to 20 hours a week during the school year, and off campus full time during their summer and other breaks. The most recent change to the legislation addresses what happens when those students graduate.

Previously, postgraduate work permits were issued for only one year and they had to be tied to a certain employer. In the past couple of years, the government has run some pilot projects where they have allowed two-year work permits in some provinces to certain graduates of specified institutions.

Based on the success of these pilot projects, they have decided to increase the work period to three years on a postgraduate work permit and make it an open work permit, which means that the graduate can change employers without having to go through the whole process of applying again for a new work permit. Also, the work permit is not restricted necessarily to the student’s field of education, so it is quite flexible.

The new legislation gives people a chance to work here for three years after graduation, to get experience and perhaps even to get a permanent job offer. Of course, getting a job offer is going to be an important factor for a lot of people because once they have a job, the door is then open to getting permanent residence status.

Recent Changes That Benefit Students on a Student Work Permit in Canada / Darryl Larson LL.B.

Darryl Larson LL.B. is an immigration lawyer with Embarkation Law Group – an Immigration Law Firm in Vancouver Canada.

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