Last Updated On 28 November 2023, 10:27 AM EST (Toronto Time)
International students and an advocacy group are urging the Canadian government to continue allowing them to work full-time and not re-impose the 20-hour per week restriction.
On November 15, 2022, certain foreign students were temporarily permitted to work full-time without any restriction on the number of working hours.
With the rising cost of living, these students were able to meet their ends and Canadian employers were able to access full-time workers to alleviate the labour shortage.
The current temporary policy allowing international students to work full-time will end on December 31, 2023.
Tens of thousands of students in Canada are anxiously awaiting a ruling on the 20-hour work limit.
Will the policy extend?
Former Immigration Minister Sean Fraser stated in 2022, “With the economy growing at a faster rate than employers can hire new workers, Canada needs to look at every option so that we have the skills and workforce needed to fuel our growth.”
He said, ‘This is a win-win situation for not only International students but also Canada.”
On extension of this policy, Minister Fraser said, “I believe in real-world data. So we are going to see how it addresses the labour shortage in the economy, and we may extend the policy next year.”
According to one of the international students, IRCC sent email survey requests to students who were eligible to work full-time inquiring about their experiences with the full-time work policy, which was open until September 11, 2023.
So we can say that IRCC is reviewing this full-time work policy to see its impact on the Canadian economy in addressing labour shortages and feedback from international students.
And, if there is an extension, we may see an update coming from IRCC just prior to its end or at the beginning of 2024 since the department is usually lagging behind in extending the policies.
If extended, the policy should also include the students who came to or are coming to Canada in 2023 and 2024.
Most of the international students have always worked more than 20 hours on cash payments.
This cash payment is unaccounted for tax purposes and the Canadian government has always been losing tax revenue from international students’ cash payments.
Canada should even make this full-time work permit policy permanent for foreign students, which will eventually increase tax revenue significantly from these students.
Plight of International Students
International students are hopeful that Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will reconsider and make the temporary suspension of the job requirement a permanent element of the international study program.
In an interview with the CBC, James Casey, a policy and research analyst at the Canadian Federation of Students (CFS), claimed that rising rents and other living costs disproportionately affect international students because they are not eligible for federal or provincial loans, grants, or housing vouchers.
At least some overseas students are seeking assistance from food banks.
“It’s a very dire situation that speaks to the huge gap between what life is for an international student in this country versus the average Canadian student,” Casey was quoted as saying.
Many overseas students, according to Casey, share beds and single rooms and end up homeless.
“If this decision is not made permanent, we’re going to have mass amounts of international students being caught up in human trafficking and exploitative labour practices.”
The Migrant Workers Alliance for Change (MWAC) has listed four reasons why the 20-hour work limit should be lifted on its website:
1. Typical job structure
An eight-hour work shift is typical. Migrant student workers who work a third shift are effectively working four out of every twenty-four hours.
Two shifts total 16 hours, which is just insufficient, and part-time work is commonly defined as three days per week.
The 20-hour work limit effectively forces people to participate in irregular employment that is not protected under labour law.
2. Already working more than 20 hours per week
International tuition grows every year, and migrant students must work to survive, especially in light of global inflation.
Many are forced to work more than 20 hours per day, increasing their vulnerability to labour exploitation and making it more difficult to pay taxes.
3. There is already a precedent
International students in key industries in Canada will be able to work an unrestricted amount of hours beginning in 2020.
Australia has lifted the 20-hour limit on study permit holders as of February 2022.
4. Flexibility and self-determination
There are ups and downs in the academic cycle. Migrant students want to be able to work more during low-intensity periods and not at all during test season.
By removing the restriction, students get the flexibility and freedom to make their own choices.
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