The Canadian Immigration Minister, Marc Miller on Monday made an announcement which unveiled a new provision granting international students the opportunity to engage in off-campus employment for a maximum of 24 hours per week, effective from September onwards.

This update comes following the temporary suspension of the 20-hour work limit imposed on international students amid the COVID-19 pandemic by the Liberal government, aimed at mitigating labor shortages. However, this exemption is slated to conclude on Tuesday.

Highlighting the importance of aligning Canada’s policies with international standards, Minister Miller emphasized the need to reconsider the current regulations governing the employment hours of international students.

Drawing attention to the practices adopted by other like-minded nations, he underscored that many of them enforce restrictions on the number of working hours permissible for international students.

However,  Minister Miller cautioned that failure to synchronize Canada’s rules with these global norms could potentially result in an influx of applicants primarily driven by employment opportunities rather than academic pursuits.

Miller said:

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“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 programs attracting more and more applicants whose primary intent is to work and not study. To be clear, the purpose of the international student program is to study and not to work.”

The introduction of the new work limit coincides with the federal government’s efforts to address a surge in international student enrollments nationwide.

Concerns raised by critics suggest that allowing international students to work full-time might inadvertently transform a study permit into an informal work visa, thereby diluting its original intent.

Nonetheless, the government is also receiving feedback from international students advocating for increased work hours to meet the financial demands of their studies.

Minister Miller justified the decision to set the cap at 24 hours, deeming it “reasonable” and explaining that it would enable students to accommodate three full eight-hour shifts weekly.

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Additionally, he cited internal departmental research indicating that over 80 percent of international students are presently working beyond the existing 20-hour limit.

The temporary adjustment to the work hours limit will revert to 20 hours per week until September, pending the government’s implementation of a permanent change to extend it to 24 hours.

Furthermore, there are currently no constraints on the number of hours international students can work during periods when they are not actively engaged in class, such as during the summer break.