Hadija Drummond, International Director of Education.                                          (Photo Courtesy Ross Lavigne)

By Prina Atwal

Government of Canada to allow international students to work more hours

Nov 1, 2022 | 4:50 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – International students in Medicine Hat will soon be allowed to expand their working hours during their current academic term.

The Government of Canada will be lifting restrictions that limit the students to 20 hours per week from Nov. 15 until Dec. 31.

The temporary measure will also apply to future international students whose applications are approved by immigration, refugees, and citizenship Canada.

International students were previously allowed to only work full-time during scheduled breaks. But students eligible to work on campus are not subject to a cap on hours for on-campus work.

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Hadija Drummond, Medicine Hat College’s international director of education, says lifting the measure has pros and cons.

“From the student’s point of view, it offers students more flexibility to increase their working hours, so if they’re struggling financially it could give them more options, to work more hours and catch up, and it gives them the option to do that without the risk of exploitation,” she says. “We also see some potential negatives, where if students are working too many hours, it could affect their studies. So I really want to encourage students to pay attention to their work-study life balance, like make sure they are prioritizing their studying.”

Drummond adds that some students are considering reducing their course load, intending to work more hours. While others are not planning to take advantage of the lifted restriction at all.

The federal government says from Jan. 1, 2022, to the end of August 2022, more than 452,000 study permit applications were processed.

“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,” says Sean Fraser, minister of immigration, refugees and citizenship. “Immigration will be crucial to addressing our labour shortage. By allowing international students to work more while they study, we can help ease pressing 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.”