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Apr 14, 2023 06:46 PM
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Canada is a fantastic place when it comes to Masters. Students from all around the world travel to Canada for a world-class education. But financing your living might be tough, whether you have to pay your house rent, buy groceries or get a bus ticket. Finding work during or after your studies is the best options in such situations!
Being an international student, working in Canada can be on-campus or anywhere outside too, for up to 20 hours every week during the University Semesters. Students can also work for full-time during the semester breaks with requiring any work permit, provided you meet the given criteria below:
- You have a valid Canadian Study Permit
- You are currently a full-time student at Canada
- You are enrolled at a Designated Learning Institution (DLI) at the Post-Secondary Level in Canada or, in Quebec, a vocational program at Secondary Level.
- You must be studying for at least six months in duration at any academic, professional or vocational training programme.
- You currently hold a valid Social Insurance Number (SIN).
Working at Canada without satisfying all these requirements will be a big legal problem, and cause problems in your study permit as well.
Working as an Intern or a Co-Op Student
Having both a work permit as well as a study permit is required if you will be studying any programme at a Designated Learning Institution (DLI), which involves any sort of work experience such an internship, apprenticeship, co-op programme or traineeship. Unfortunately, you will not be eligible to apply for a co-op work permit, if you are studying French and/or English as a second language, or enrolled in a preparatory course.
To apply for a work permit, you might need to submit a form of proof stating that the work experience holds much value for the completion of your academic programme. This proof can be presented in the form of any letter signed by your professor/Faculty head at the University or College, or you can provide a copy of the module handbook of your Master’s programme. This professional experience cannot carry a weightage of more than 50% of your actual course programme.
Working in Canada after your graduation
After 90 days of your graduation, your Canadian study permit shall get expired. Hence, if you want to stay back in Canada and work after completing your graduation, you will have to apply for a Canadian work permit under the Post – Graduation Work Permit Program by then. This helps you gain an excellent work experience, which can help you be eligible for a Permanent Residency (PR) through an option of Express Entry. You can go ahead and apply for this if you have studied at a stretch in a full-time programme for a duration of at least 8 months.
Thus, if you have studied in Canada for a period of more than 8 months, but less than 2 years in total, then your work permit is valid for the same duration as the length of your studies. However, if you have completed your studies in Canada for 2 years (or more), your Canadian Work Permit is valid for 3 years.Since PGWPP seems so interesting, let us view the other eligibility criteria for applying for a PGWPP:
- The applicant of the PGWPP must be at least 18 years of age.
- The applicant must have a valid Canadian Study Permit at the time of application.
- The applicant must have graduated from a public/private Post-Secondary DLI.
- The applicant must have proof or a written confirmation of having completed / passed your post-graduate programme. You can submit your transcripts as well, which proves that the applicant is eligible for the diploma or degree.
- The applicant’s passport validity is longer than the total duration for the work permit you will be applying to.
Express Entry
Express Entry is an optimum choice to immigrate in Canada as a skilled professional worker if you want to stay in the beautiful maple country, Canada as a Permanent Resident. All international students flying to Canada and graduating from the DLIs follow many of the criteria required for a PR at Canada – be it the English and/or French language proficiency, well- aware of the Canadian lifestyle and society, clean record at the University and living premises, etc.
While applying for an Express Entry, you need to fill out an Express Entry profile. This profile must be updated with your personal information, your current employment skill level, your proficiency tests results for the languages, and if any other family members will be accompanying you to Canada. If you don’t have any employment offer in hand, you should apply at the Canadian Government Job Bank, which helps all the job seekers connect to the Canadian employers.
Your profile will be evaluated with all the other profiles as well, and you get ‘Points’ based on your profile. These points will decide your ranking amongst all the applications. Applicants with the highest points get an invitation for applying for Permanent Residency in a time gap of 90 days. In unfortunate situations, if you do not get any invitation, you can still stay in the waiting list for another 12 months, with a chance of updating and improving your chances. If this time limit crosses, you can reapply for the Express Entry.
Comprehensive Ranking System – Express Entry
Criteria | With a Spouse | Without a Spouse |
Age | 100 | 110 |
Level of Education/Qualifications | 140 | 150 |
Language proficiency in English and/or French | 150 | 160 |
Work experience | 70 | 80 |
The Social Insurance Number (SIN)
As previously discussed, applying for a work permit requires you to have a Social Insurance Number. This SI Number is a 9 – digit number you need to get employment opportunities in Canada, or even get a gateway for the services and benefits of the Canadian Government programs. All International students are required to present their study permit for this. This permit must clearly state that the applicant ‘may accept any employment opportunities’ or ‘can work’ in Canada. If these conditions are not stated in the Study Permit, you need to apply for an amendment study permit. You must contact the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for any possibilities in a correction.
If your study permit clearly states that you are not permitted to work in Canada, this may change if you change your program of study. In this case, you must apply to change the conditions of your study permit and pay the appropriate fee.
