November 14, 2022
THE VARSITY The University of Toronto’s Student Newspaper Since 1880
After years of advocacy, international students’ work limit temporarily lifted Change made amid labour shortages in Canada Alyanna Denise Chua UTSC Bureau Chief
Starting November 15, international students across Canada will be able to work unlimited hours off campus. Previously, study permit holders were only allowed to work 20 hours per week off campus during the academic year. According to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Sean Fraser, this policy change is intended to address Canada’s ongoing labour shortage. The new policy only applies to full-time international students who either have active study permits or submitted their study permit applications before October 8. The new policy will be in effect until December 31, 2023. In interviews with The Varsity, U of T international students said that the new policy will allow both employees and managers more flexibility in terms of scheduling, and enable international
students to obtain more work experience and income. However, they are disappointed with the timing, impermanence, and exclusionary criteria of the policy. Background International students have been campaigning to remove the 20-hour work limit since at least 2019, when international student Jobandeep Singh Sandhu — then a mechanical engineering student at Canadore College in Mississauga — was arrested and deported after working for more than 20 hours off campus. “[The policy change] is a step in the right direction,” said Sarom Rho — the lead organizer of Migrant Students United, a branch of the advocacy organization Migrant Workers Alliance for Change — in an interview with The Varsity. The change, Rho explained, “was in direct response to years of current and former international students directly organizing to end restric-
tions on work.” However, she and U of T international student leaders maintain that the policy change is not enough to ensure the fair treatment of international students in Canada. Student responses On October 7, Fraser announced that the federal government would be removing the 20hour work limit for international students, which would allow more than 500,000 international students currently in Canada to work more hours off campus. International students enrolled in designated postsecondary programs can continue to work unlimited hours on campus and outside the academic year. The removal of the 20-hour work limit is “about giving international students the power, freedom, and flexibility to make their own decisions about when and where, and how to
Vol. CXLIII, No. 9
work,” said Rho. Vanness Yeung is a third-year UTSC international student from Hong Kong. Previously, the work limit prevented her from working more hours during reading weeks and holidays. “I was just staying at home, when I could’ve worked more and earned more money for my daily expenses,” she said in an interview with The Varsity. With the new policy, Yeung said that international students will be able to choose to work more hours during reading weeks, holidays, and semester breaks, and to afford to work fewer hours during midterms or finals season to “focus on our studies.” Alistair Kirk — a fourth-year UTM international student from Ghana and vice-president external of the University of Toronto Mississauga Students’ Union — also said that the new policy will allow international students to gain more work experience during their undergraduate studies. “International students need to get [work] experience in order to land a job after they graduate,” Kirk said in an interview with The Varsity. More on page 3