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Source: Ottawa is considering increasing off-campus work hours for international students | LinkedIn

In November last year, international students requested that Ottawa allow them to work off-campus for more than 20 hours per week. Now, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is considering this as part of a regulatory review.

On June 29, the immigration department began a 30-day review of the Regulations Amending the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations (Designated Learning Institutions), focusing on colleges and universities designated as Learning Institutions (DLI).

Increasing off-campus work hours is seen as a way to address labour challenges. A DLI is a school approved by provincial or territorial governments to host international students. While primary and secondary schools in Canada are automatically DLIs, off-campus work hours for international students were reduced from 24 to 20 hours on April 30, 2023, after a temporary increase during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The IRCC emphasized the need to balance students’ need for supplementary income with the purpose of a study permit and maintaining academic outcomes, in line with countries like the UK, New Zealand, and Ireland, which have similar work hour limits for international students. Australia changed its limit to 48 hours every two weeks in 2023.

An IRCC survey indicated that more than half of international students would work more than 20 hours per week off-campus if allowed. 296,906 eligible international students would benefit from increased work hours, potentially earning an additional $10.2 billion over ten years at an hourly wage rate of $24.29.

Ottawa hopes that allowing more work hours for international students will help alleviate labour shortages, particularly in lower-wage industries. The IRCC noted that while this could increase competition for Canadian workers, industries with high participation rates of international students have also experienced high job vacancy rates. For instance, 23.9% of international students without work permits had earnings in accommodation and food services, with the highest job vacancy rate in March 2023.

James Casey, a policy and research analyst for the Canadian Federation of Students, highlighted that international students are disproportionately affected by rising living costs, as they do not receive federal or provincial loans or grants. Some international students have turned to food banks and face dire living conditions. Casey warned that without increased work hours, these issues would worsen.

The reviewed regulations would grant IRCC authority to suspend study permit processing for non-compliant educational institutions and require students to apply for new permits when transferring schools. IRCC needs more regulatory authority to compel reporting from DLIs, making it difficult to detect fraudulent letters of acceptance and ensure compliance.