Canada’s New Temporary Measure for Foreign Students

The Canadian Minister of Immigration Sean Fraser announced another temporary measure encouraging Canada’s labor deficiencies. According to the measure, the country has more open doors to international students in Canada.

Canada permitted international students to work off-campus for twenty hours every week, from 15 November to 31st December 2022.

This reform will also benefit foreign nationals who have already given their study permit application as on October 7, 2022. Immigration Minister describes the new measure as an aim to ease the labour shortage problems in Canada.

Labour Shortage in Canada

Canada is managing labor deficiencies and an employment rate that is low historically. Statistics Canada shows that the country’s employment rate shifted from 5.4% to 5.2 percent in September.  

Students who apply to Canadian educational programs might get approved to work off-campus for more than 20 hours every week. The rule is also applicable during the mid-year and winter breaks thus providing financial support to international students. The temporary reform will also provide a chance for more than 500,000 international students in Canada to work more than 20 hours a week.

The Canadian government implying this rule until further notice as the country has almost 1,000,000 job openings.

Study Permit Trends in Canada for International Students

Canada has observed international students as a prime source of permanent residents in recent years, especially during the pandemic. This is why IRCC tends to offer popular programs like (PGWP) to help international students work and live in Canada.

The country is among the best destination for international students as it has helped more than 620,000 foreign students.

As per Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE), the majority of students are interested in staying as permanent residents in Canada.

Canada has proactively handled more than 452,000 study permit applications between January and August of 2022. The result shows that there is a 23% raise compared with the 367,000 handled in 2021.

Thus, Fraser received an order from Prime Minister to search for multiple ways for international students to get Canada PR.  Moreover, the immigration minister also designed a plan to help temporary workers and residents get PR in Canada.