
Immigration Minister Sean Fraser speaks at Blissful Goat Espresso, in Ottawa, on Oct. 7.PATRICK DOYLE/The Canadian Press
Canada will quickly permit worldwide college students to work greater than 20 hours every week, in a bid to handle ongoing labour shortages.
Talking at a espresso store in Ottawa Friday morning, Immigration Minister Sean Fraser mentioned the adjustments will begin on Nov. 15 and be in impact till the top of 2023.
“This modification goes to assist maintain Canada’s postpandemic development,” Mr. Fraser mentioned. “It’s additionally going to offer many postsecondary college students a larger alternative to help themselves.”
The labour market stays exceptionally tight, with practically a million job vacancies reported within the second quarter of 2022.
The Canadian Alliance of Pupil Associations welcomed the announcement, saying it was a step towards bettering worldwide college students’ academic expertise.
“Permitting worldwide college students to work extra off-campus hours will assist college students afford their training and improve academic experiences,” mentioned Christian Fotang, the alliance’s chair.
“This isn’t solely a win for worldwide college students, but additionally for Canada.”
Mr. Fraser additionally introduced a pilot program to assist automate the appliance course of for college kids to increase their examine permits.
That may permit for some functions to be routinely authorised, however the brand new course of won’t routinely reject claims.
Mr. Fraser mentioned the pilot is aimed toward lowering immigration backlogs and liberating up officers to work on extra advanced functions.