Canada limits working hours to 24 hours per week for international students under new work restrictions
Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship has announced that the international students in the North American nation will now be only able to to work for 24 hours in a week. Marc Miller took it to social media platform X to make the announcement.
“When we lifted the 20 hrs/week work rule for international students, we did so to support the post-pandemic recovery. Today, I announced that this measure will no longer be extended and, this fall, off-campus student work hours will be limited to 24 hrs/week,” he posted on his official X account.
As per the earlier rule, international students were allowed to work for more than 20 hours every week while they were off campus. The rule came to an end on April 30, 2024. However, Miller also said that students who have a planned or scheduled academic break can continue working unlimited hours.
According to Miller, this change will be helpful for the students as it will help them concentrate on their studies instead of working long hours.
“First and foremost, international students come to Canada to study. This change will allow students to focus on their classes, while providing the option to work. We’ll continue to maintain the integrity of the program, while protecting students from vulnerability,” he said.
The Canadian government claims that recent studies conducted in the United States and Canada have shown that students working more than 28 hours per week experience a significant decline in academic performance, and that working more than 24 hours per week increases the likelihood of a student dropping out of their programme.
Most nations that welcome international students have started limiting their working hours while they are studying. Australia has also revised its policy to enable students to work up to 48 hours two weeks. Moreover, students in the United States are required complete extra requirements before being allowed to work off campus.
