New Post-Graduation Work Permits in Canada: What’s New for International Students
The Canadian government has recently made significant announcements concerning a shift in the regulation on Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) that will begin on November 1, 2024. The eligibility of international students in connection to college graduation will be influenced by the implementation of these new regulations. International students who aspire and are still currently in Canada and plan on working here after finishing their education must understand the new changes.
Primary Changes to PGWP Eligibility
From November 1, 2024 onwards, the eligibility criteria for international students in securing the study permit will change in regard to qualifying them for the PGWP. Obviously, those students who had applied or held a study permit before the said date would still be qualified under the old rules. Once the students apply following the end of such date, a new “field of study” requirement will also be introduced to match the qualifications with the labor market of Canada.
New Field of Study Requirements
For new regulations, only those applicants who have earned their graduate degrees in the following “eligible fields of study” will be eligible to apply for a PGWP. IRCC has identified 966 program areas to fall within these five main fields of study below:
- Agriculture and Agri-Food
- Healthcare
- Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)
- Skilled Trades
- Transportation
Unfortunately, it is not possible to include several programs in hospitality, tourism, and business studies, as these were among the programs that often attracted many international students. Many of them may be adversely impacted by this exclusion as well because these sectors, where most of these international students would like to be employed in Canada, present significant gaps in filling existing jobs in this country.
Impact on Students and Educational Institutions
The new policy raised utmost concerns in education institutions and other parties. Many colleges depend on international students for fields that will no longer qualify for the PGWP. Olds College’s director of recruitment and international, Karen Dancy, pointed out the adverse implications to local communities reliant on the college-educated international learner, particularly in the rural area.
Colleges Ontario President and CEO Marketa Evans penned an open letter to Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship of Canada Marc Miller in response to a consultation on reliance placed on provinces in national labor market information, pleading with the government to work with regional labor needs to ensure that there is satisfaction of local employer demand.
Language Requirements to be Met for PGWP Applications
Apart from the new field of study requirements, there is also a specified set of language proficiency requirements for international applicants for a PGWP. All applicants have to demonstrate their efficiency in English or French from approved language tests.
Graduates of a University: Should attain a minimum score of Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 7 in English or its French counterpart (NCLC 7).
College Graduates: Must have a lower standard of CLB 5 or NCLC 5 in all four language skills: reading, writing, listening, and speaking.
Impact Level
These new requirements will significantly shrink the number of eligible international students for post-study work permits. The government issued over 105,000 PGWPs in the first six months of 2024 and at the start of the year, with 64 percent of the issued PGWPs going to the college graduates. For instance, business studies graduates accounted for 42 percent of those permits, while STEM graduates made up 37%. A number of graduates from the non-eligible fields—mostly business and hospitality—will be cut from the list due to new regulations whereby they will no longer have eligibility into PGWP.
The “lessons learned” for the popular fields put out of eligibility criteria have been associated with many critical comments, particularly from stakeholder groups, who argue that these changes may not be able to curb local labor shortages and could yet diminish the appeal of Canada as a destination for international studies.
Conclusion
Just announced rules concerning eligibility for PGWP, while a radical shift in Canada’s approach to supporting international students might prove severe implications for students and institutions with good intentions to correct labor shortages in critical sectors. As these changes loom, this is one of the important issues current and prospective international students must learn about and weigh their options well.
