Before you begin working, you and your employer must confirm that you can do so without a work permit. You could have to leave Canada if you start working off-campus but don’t meet the standards.
Only when your studies have begun in Canada are you able to begin working. You can not work before you begin your education.
The criteria on your study permit will specify whether you are allowed to work while you are enrolled in classes.
You do not require a work permit if you are qualified to work off-campus.
Eligibility requirements:
If you satisfy all of these criteria, you are permitted to work off campus without a work permit:
- If you attend a specified educational institution full-time (DLI),
- If you are enrolled in a secondary-level vocational training program, a post-secondary academic, vocational, or professional training program (Quebec only),
- If you have begun studying, your course of study lasts at least six months and leads to a degree, diploma, or certificate (SIN).
You’ll need to obtain a Social Insurance Number (SIN) to work in Canada.
A SIN is a nine-digit number that you receive from the Canadian government. One is required to work in Canada.
One of the following requirements must be written down on your study permit for you to apply for a SIN to work off campus:
If they fulfill the requirements listed in paragraph 186(v) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, they may work 20 hours per week off campus or full-time during regular breaks.
If they satisfy the eligibility requirements set out in paragraphs R186(f), (v), or (w), they may take employment on or off campus and must stop working if they fail to satisfy the eligibility requirements.
If your study permit does not already include work restrictions, you can request that they be added if you are permitted to work off campus. These conditions can be added to your permit at no additional cost. Before you can apply for a SIN from Service Canada, you must ask for a change to your study visa. How long can you spend working away from campus?
In the usual academic sessions or semesters,
20 hours a week is the maximum you can work. As long as you continue to adhere to the terms of your study permit, you are permitted to perform more than one job to make up these hours.
You are permitted to work full-time while on a designated break throughout the school year, such as the winter and summer vacations or a fall or spring reading week. You are permitted to work additional hours or two part-time jobs that total more than the usual number of hours.
To work full-time, you must be enrolled in school full-time before and after the break.
You are not allowed to work during the break before your first semester of school.
How many hours do full-time jobs require?
“Full-time” employment is not limited to a certain number of hours per week. However, your employer(s) must abide by all provincial regulations regarding time between shifts and overtime compensation.
You may work up to 20 hours a week if your program doesn’t have set breaks.
You are in breach of the terms of your study permit if you work more than 20 hours per week. If you do this, you risk losing your student status and having future requests for a study or work visa denied. You could even need to leave the country.
Student entrepreneurship
If you work for yourself, you must also keep track of your off-campus working hours and provide documentation that you are abiding by the terms of your study permit.
Hours are determined by the amount of time you spend doing any of the following: working for pay, receiving pay for services rendered, or making sales.
I am paid a commission for rendering a service or promoting a product
Who is unable to work off campus?
If any of the following applies to you, you are not permitted to work off campus without a work permit:
According to your study permit, you are not permitted to work off campus while you are a student.
You are just studying the courses necessary to be accepted into a full-time program if you are merely enrolled in a general interest course or English or French as a Second Language (ESL/FSL) program.
A change in your circumstances means you no longer fulfill all of the conditions for working off campus.
You must apply for a work visa if any of these circumstances apply to you and you wish to work while studying in Canada.
When studying, if anything changes,
You might be able to modify the terms of your study permit if you were previously ineligible to work off-campus but your circumstances have now changed.
If your study program has changed to one that would allow you to work off campus and your study permit states that it forbids off-campus employment in Canada, you can request to have those restrictions modified. or Your study permit was issued with a condition that may no longer be valid.
To finish required courses, such as an ESL or FSL course, you need study permission.
After that, you’re admitted to a full-time study program. This would imply that you might apply to have the restriction on working outside of school removed from your study visa.
You must apply to modify the terms of your study permit. There is a cost to making this adjustment. Before applying for a SIN, you must modify the terms of your permission. Changing your study permit’s restrictions
You must submit a fresh application for a study permit from within Canada.
When you submit your application online, the Application to Change Conditions, Extend My Stay or Remain in Canada as a Student [IMM 5709] will be on your unique checklist. Check the box to apply for a study permit for the first time or renew my study permit on that form, then fill out the remaining blanks as necessary.
Include a letter with your application outlining your request to have the restriction on your study permit lifted.
Working once your academic program is over
Following the completion of your studies, you may be able to find full-time employment in one of two ways
Did you previously apply for a work permit before the expiration of your study visa?
You’re beginning a new course of study.
To be able to work full-time, you must fulfill each of the conditions stated below. If we reject your request for a work or study permit, you must stop working and depart Canada immediately. If you’ve previously submitted a work permit application,
If you satisfy all of the following qualifications, you may work full-time:
While you were a student, you were already permitted to work off campus.
Before your study permit expired, you applied for a work permit or a post-graduation work permit (PGWP).
Your application for a work permit is awaiting a decision.
If you fulfill all of the following conditions and are beginning a new study program, you are eligible to work full-time:
When you were a student before, you were already permitted to work off campus.
You either now possess a valid study permit or you applied to have it extended before it expired.
Your present school has officially informed you in writing that your program is complete.
You were granted admission through the letter to a brand-new full-time study program at a DLI.
Within 150 calendar days of getting confirmation that your prior program was successful, you’ll begin your new one.