How international students can (legally) get around Canada’s fixed work hours

In light of this, here is how international students can work more than 20 hours a week, legally.

Why do students want to work more?

Driving the demand of students — especially those from developing countries like India — for more per week work hours is the need for financial self-sufficiency. Currently, most parents fund only the first year’s expenses, meaning that students have to work to cover subsequent years’ costs.

And given the ever escalating costs and financial requirements they face, they need to work a lot to continue their studies. Take, for instance, the requirements to obtain a study permit. Applicants must demonstrate that they have at least $20,635 saved (this was only $10,000 earlier), in addition to accounting for the first-year’s tuition fee, and travel cost of coming to Canada. All new study permit applications received on or after January 1, 2024 must meet this higher requirements.

“With a maximum of 20 hours per week allowed for work, even if students work on all weeks throughout a year, they cannot recoup the price of their fee which stands around Rs 10-20 lakh annually, depending on the programme,” Harman Preet Kaur, a student who will start her studies in Canada this September, told The Indian Express. “Living costs are also escalating, with students now paying $2,000 for renting out a single room that previously cost only $400 to $500… Other daily necessities have also become more costly,” she said.

Many students said they can perform better if the 20-hour cap were to be lifted, and for many more, work, rather than study, is anyway the priority.

So, what can students do?

Canada allows students to work unlimited hours ‘on campus’. This includes roles within the university, such as that of teaching or research assistant. Students can also work for on-campus employers such as student organisations, faculty members, private-contractors working on-campus (say for repairs and maintenance), or businesses physically located on campus, such as book shops, cafeterias, etc.

Experts said that this is the one legal way to work more than the current 20 hour limit.

In case one’s institute has more than one campus, more often than not, a student can work only on the campus they are studying in. That is unless you are working on a research/university grant. In such cases, students can work as teaching/research assistants, at a university library, hospital, or any research facility associated with their school, even if it is outside the campus.

These ventures provide students with a theoretically unrestricted source of income while continuing with their studies. That being said, limited vacancies and a large number of applicants for on-campus jobs poses a major challenge.

With regards to off-campus work, while there are restrictions during the term, students can work full-time during summer and winter breaks — basically whenever classes are not going on.