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Canada’s New Rules for International Students

By: Mariam Baher

On November 15, 2024, the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), announced that new regulations for international students would take effect immediately. These changes focus on the number of hours students are permitted to work during the academic school year and during holiday breaks. Other changes that have taken effect are rules for international students who want to change schools, as well as how designated learning institutions (DLI) report international student information.

Ultimately, these changes benefit international students and aim to protect them while preventing fraud and ensuring that schools follow the correct international student guidelines.

Off-Campus Work Hours Increase

Following the recent changes, international students can now work up to 24 hours a week during the school year as opposed to the previous 20-hour limit per week. This change allows students to have the opportunity to integrate themselves into the Canadian working force and earn extra money to support their tuition fees and living costs.

International students can work full-time during scheduled breaks which are when the school closes during summer, winter and easter breaks. Students are permitted to work full-time during these breaks as long as they are respecting the study permit authorization granted to them, which means being enrolled in their program as a full-time student at a designated learning institute.

To make sure that you are eligible to work 24 hours per week off-campus or full-time during scheduled breaks, the conditions must be explicitly indicated in your study permit. If your permit lacks these conditions, you can request an amendment to add them by contacting IRCC.

Violating Work Conditions

As a student, you are responsible for maintaining accurate records of your working hours and complying with your study permit conditions. If, for example, you exceed the 24-hour work limit during the school year or work outside of the conditions indicated on your study permit, there could be serious consequences, such as:

• Loss of student status
• Ineligibility for future immigration programs, including study or work permits
• Potential removal from Canada

Accountability Measures for Schools

With the new changes, Designated Learning Institutions (DLIs) that accept international students, must submit reports to the government twice a year to confirm that students are enrolled and abiding by the rules. If the institution fails to report this or if the government is made aware that students are no longer enrolled, the institution could undergo an investigation and be prohibited from accepting new international students for up to a year.

Transferring Schools

Following the changes, students must now apply for a new study permit if they want to transfer to a different school. This rule will help ensure students attend approved schools and that their study permits are up to date.

Verifying The Letter of Acceptance (LOA)

The Canadian government is taking strong measures to ensure that Letters of Acceptance (LOA) from schools are authentic and valid. There has been a troubling rise in some individuals attempting to manipulate the system to gain entry to Canada. As of December 20

23, IRCC has checked approximately 492,000 LOAs and during this process, over 17,000 cases were discovered where the letters were either forged or cancelled. These efforts are critical in maintaining the integrity of the international student program and ensuring that only eligible international students are studying in Canada— legally.

Provincial attestation letter (PAL)

In addition to verifying the letters of acceptance, students are required to provide a provincial attestation letter as well for most applications, unless they fall under the few exceptions.

If you are planning to study in Canada or need help navigating these new changes, we are here to assist you. At Canadim, we can help you navigate through these recent changes, ensuring your study permit and work conditions are in line with the latest rules and regulations.