Three students attending from India – from left, Kashish Dhingra, Zill Kalal and Bhavee Joshi – told QNet News Thursday that they are excited and happy about the lifting of the cap on the number of weekly hours international students can work in Canada. Photo by Victoria Caminha, QNet News
BELLEVILLE – International students at Loyalist College are reacting positively to a decision by the federal government to lift its cap on the number of hours they can work off-campus each week.
Federal Immigration Minister Sean Fraser announced Friday that the 20-hour-a-week cap would be lifted on Nov. 15. The lifting of the weekly limit will remain in place until the end of 2023.
This will help alleviate the labour shortages happening across Canada, Fraser said. It will also benefit the more than 500,000 international students in the country, he said, because they will now be able to make more money during school time, helping with their financial situation.
Dave Rutva, an Indian student in biotechnology at Loyalist, told QNet this week: “I’m so happy, because working only 20 hours per week – it’s hard for us to make (enough to pay) fees and everything … (It) makes our life much easier.”
Milan Parmar, also from India and studying biotechnology at Loyalist, agreed that it will be helpful for international students to be able to work more than 20 hours a week. But he also noted that students have a lot of assignments and other schoolwork, and fitting those in around a job can be an issue.
“We have to manage everything,” Parmar said. “We have to focus on our studies. It should be our priority, and then we can do the job more.”
Lilian Cordeiro, a Brazilian student in the business program, called the announcement “a great opportunity for us.” International students will be able to “develop more abilities and contribute to the workforce,” she said.
International students who leave their studies or switch to part-time classes are not eligible to work off-campus.
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