International Student Program Changes Take Effect – Full-time students can work up to 24 hours a week off-campus – End of Student Direct Stream and Nigeria Student Express

Back in April 2024, the government announced that in the fall, it would allow full-time international students to work up to 24 hours per week off-campus. This 24-hour per week limit was settled on to strike a balance between allowing students to pay for their studies and living expenses and focusing on their studies as the purpose of their stay in Canada. Further, the program of study must be a full-time post-secondary academic, vocational or professional training program, or a vocational training program offered at the secondary level in Québec. The program must be at least six months in length and lead to a degree, diploma, or certificate. This 24-hour limit for off-campus work came into effect November 15, 2024. There is no limit to the number of hours a student can work off-campus during regularly scheduled breaks such as the summer or winter holidays.

Additionally, to enforce its limit on the number of international students in Canada and to try to ensure that study permit holders are in Canada to study, designated learning institutions (DLIs) are required to submit a report twice a year to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) indicating whether each study permit holder associated with their school remains enrolled. The government has further stated that students who are no longer enrolled can be investigated for breaking their study permit conditions and may face enforcement action.

IRCC has also stated that its letter of acceptance (LOA) verification process has been successful. Between December 1, 2023, and October 6, 2024, IRCC received almost 529,000 LOAs, confirmed 492,000 of them as valid with DLIs, and identified over 17,000 LOAs that did not match a LOA issued by a DLI or which was already cancelled.

Further updates to the International Student Program relate to the end of the Student Direct Stream and Nigeria Student Express on November 8, 2024. The Student Direct Stream was a fast-track process for study permit applicants from Antigua and Barbuda, Brazil, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, India, Morocco, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Senegal, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and Vietnam. Applicants had to submit English language test results meeting a certain threshold and obtain a Guaranteed Investment Certificate of $20,635. A similar stream existed for Nigerian study permit applicants with Nigeria Student Express. Both of these programs have now ended.

These measures are to continue into the future as the government continues to place further scrutiny on the International Student Program and to limit the number of international students, and temporary and permanent residents in general, in Canada.

If you have questions about off-campus work that may affect you or an employee, you can reach out to us for a consultation. Our Canadian immigration legal professionals can be reached by phone (416-368-1111) or via email: caruso@cilf.ca; fagan@cilf.ca; bonisteel@cilf.ca; ali@cilf.ca; mukherjee@cilf.ca; garciafialdini@cilf.ca.