Canada removes the limit on off-campus work hours for international students
Contents News/Article Date: 11th October 2022
Relating to which Act: Canadian Human Rights Act, Labour & Employment Laws, the Civil Code of Quebec, Canada’s Constitution Act, Canada Occupational Safety and health regulations, Canada Labour Code
Type: Canada’s Market Intelligence Report
Pertains to International Students in Canada
Relevance of this news : Karma Global Tech Management Firm has now gone offshore to countries like Canada, the US, UK, and UAE offering exemplary services like payroll, temp staffing, onboarding, and HR services. It has made a lot of inroads in Canada as far as payroll and recruitment services are concerned.
There is news that Canada has now removed limits for working hours of international students just to give you some insights into the labour employment laws in Canada which we are familiar with and connected with the payroll processing that we do for global clients in Canada.
Minimum employment rights under Canada Labor Law
1.Working hours – Under Canadian labor law, employees are required to work a five-day week (Monday-Friday), but generally, most provinces expect employees to work 40 hours weekly.
2. Right to disconnect – Employers in Ontario that employ 25 employees or more must have a written policy on disconnecting from work. In order to increase productivity and avoid burnout by allowing time away from the desk and screen, this right has been incorporated into Canadian labor law to benefit employees and promote a better work/ life balance.
3. Benefits – There are certain employee benefits in Canada that all employers must provide under Canadian labor law. They include things like making contributions to a pension plan and employment insurance, providing statutory sick leave, and other paid time off like maternity, paternity, and parental leave. In addition to the mandatory benefits that employers must provide by law, employers can provide supplementary benefits too. Supplementary benefits include things like memberships, discounts, reward schemes, and extra health benefits. Employers may offer these to attract and retain employees.
4. Pay – Canada labor law mandates that employers pay a salary or wage of at least the statutory minimum wage. The minimum wage is in place so that employees are not underpaid and to ensure working standards are maintained.
5. Holidays and vacation – Most federal employees are entitled to a minimum of two weeks of annual vacation, with many provinces applying a minimum of three weeks.
6. Sick leave – According to the Canada Labour Code, employees have a minimum of five days’ sick leave.
Minimum wage across Canada
“Minimum wage” is the lowest amount that an employer can pay an employee. The minimum wage varies depending on the province, the situation/industry, and the age of an individual employee. The minimum wage is liable to increase regularly, so it is important for employers to be up-to-date with changes in order to remain compliant with labor laws.
For example, from January 1, 2022, the following minimum wage rates are required in Ontario:
- General minimum wage: $15 per hour
- Student minimum wage: $14.10 per hour
- Hunting, fishing, and wilderness guides minimum wage: $75 per hour (working less than 5 hours daily), $150.05 (working more than 5 hours daily)
- Homeworkers’ minimum wage: $16.50 per hour.
Subject: Canada removes the limit on off-campus work hours for international students
For greater details, appended below is the complete news item
Canada removes the limit on off-campus work hours for international students
Short on time? Here are the highlights:
- From 15 November 2022 to the end of December 2023 international students with off-campus permissions on their study permits will be able to work an unlimited number of hours off-campus
- The temporary rule will also apply to active study permit holders who submitted study applications by 7 October 2022
- To address acute labour shortages in Canada’s economy, the Canadian government is temporarily lifting the cap on the number of hours per week international students can work off-campus while classes are in session.
- Normally, international students are allowed to work for no more than 20 hours per week off-campus during their academic term. But now, from 15 November 2022 to 31 December 2023, international students who have off-campus permission on their work permit will not be limited to 20 hours per week.
- The new rule applies not only to international students currently in Canada – but to students who have submitted a study permit application as of 7 October 2022, (provided, of course, that their application is approved).
- The government estimates that the temporary lifting of the work cap will affect “more than 500,000 international students already in Canada available to potentially work additional hours,” not to mention those who will come to the country on an approved study permit and applied before the 7 October cut-off.
- Students will be expected to balance their academic coursework and off-campus work. They will not be permitted to reduce their course loads or to move to part-time status. If they do, they will not be eligible for off-campus work.
- Sean Fraser, Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship states:
- “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. Immigration will be crucial to addressing our labour shortage. By allowing international students to work more while they study, we can help ease pressing needs in many sectors across the country, while providing more opportunities for international students to gain valuable Canadian work experience and continue contributing to our short-term recovery and long-term prosperity.”
- As we have written about recently, the ability to work while studying is essential for many international students this year given an affordability crisis in many countries. Typically, almost half of the post-secondary international students in Canada report earning income during their studies. The temporary lifting of work caps beginning mid-November will allow them to earn more money than before.
- The change does not affect international students working on-campus in Canada, as on-campus work is already not restricted in terms of the number of hours students can work while classes are in session.
· Make the change permanent, say some
- Some advocates are urging the government to lift caps on off-campus work hours permanently – to see the policy as addressing more than just Canadian labour supply shortages. Alistair Kirk, an international representative for the Canadian Federation of Students Ontario, gave a frank interview with Canada’s CBC News:
- “International students are more often than not seen as cash cows. I want the government to think about the livelihoods of international students — to know that the more unfair they treat us, the less likely we will stay to build Canada in the future.”
· New pilot aims to automate the processing of study permit extensions
- Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has also announced that it is launching a pilot project to automate the processing of study permit extensions for a small group of international students. The department’s assessment is that those types of applications are already being approved at a high rate, and therefore it makes sense to try to automate this segment of applications to free up resources to process “more complex” applications. If the pilot is successful, it will be expanded more broadly.
- Canada’s immigration officials are struggling to work through a backlog of tens of thousands of study permit files, both for new students who have not yet arrived in Canada and for students who need extensions to remain legally in Canada. Frustration is incredibly high for many students whose study plans and lives have been disrupted by abnormally long wait times.