Apart from doubling the minimum cost of living financial prerequisite for international students, Canada has also announced updates on three temporary policies that were set to expire at the end of 2023, drawing mixed responses from Indian students.
No Extension For PG Work Permits Expiring After December 31: The Canadian government has decided not to extend a temporary policy providing an extra 18-month work permit to post-graduation work permit holders whose permits had expired or were set to end. This will affect international students whose post-graduate work permits (PGWPs) will expire after December 31, 2023.
“The announcement says foreign nationals with a PGWP expiring up to December 31, 2023, remain eligible to apply. However, they have not extended this policy for those whose PGWPs are expiring on January 1, 2024. This is a big blow as students need to think about what to do next,” said Mandeep, convenor of Montreal Students Youth Organization (MYSO).
The LMIA is a document that a company in Canada needs to get before hiring a foreign worker. A positive LMA will show that there is a need for a foreign employee to fill the job and that no Canadian employee or permanent resident is available to do that work.
Sources exposed that usually, the fee for an LMIA document is 1,000 Canadian dollars. However, company owners often charge much higher fees in cash from students for it. In the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), any company that is three years old and has a revenue of half a million Canadian dollars is eligible for LMIA. Outside GTA, the revenue needs to be a million Canadian dollars. Such companies can give a extreme work permit of two years.
Another announcement made by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Marc Miller was related to the work-hour limit. “The waiver on the 20-hour-per-week limit on the number of hours international students are allowed to work off campus while class is in session will be extended to April 30, 2024,” he said.
This condition only applies to international students already in Canada as well as those who have applied for a study permit as of December 7, 2023. Those who will submit applications after December 7, 2023, will have to follow the 20-hour-per-week work norm.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said it is continuing “to examine options for this policy in the future, such as expanding off-campus work hours for international students to 30 hours per week while class is in session”.
Presently, international students in Canada can study online and offline on a 50:50 basis. This temporary policy will last but only for students who began a study programme before September 1, 2024, as per IRCC..
