By Denis Korobov,
Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant
Director, CWR Immigration Consulting
www.cwrvisa.ca
After spending a significant portion of my immigration consulting career working with international students and witnessing multiple heartbreaks endured by my clients, I wanted to write this article in hope that it can reach young people from around the world who are interested in studying in Canada and possibly living in Canada permanently to help them avoid unfixable mistakes that would prevent them from obtaining permanent residency in one of the best countries in the world.
Canada is the fourth most popular destination for international students in the world placed slightly behind China (#3) and the UK (#2) with the USA at the top of the list.¹ From 2010 through 2020, the number of international students in Canada grew by 135% reaching the height of 721,000 in 2018². Despite a 17% decrease in 2020 from the previous year, spurred by the global COVID-19 pandemic, the numbers of international students that drive a multi-billion dollar industry in Canada are expected to continuously increase in the future.
Young people from around the world are drawn to studying in Canada by the prospects of getting high quality education, internationally recognized degrees and an opportunity to live and work in one of the best countries in the world³. However, the biggest potential benefit recognized by international students from around the world is that obtaining Canadian education and post-graduation work experience provides a solid pathway to permanent residency. According to the Canadian Bureau for International Education, 60% of international students plan to apply for Canadian permanent residence⁴.
Canadian government always looked at international students as the prime pool of candidates for meeting its annual immigration goals. These candidates have received Canadian education, developed advanced English/French language skills and have proven their employability on the Canadian labour market, which is very important to the Canadian economy. There have been many instances throughout the Canadian economic immigration history of highly educated and experienced immigrants who are forced to take low-skill jobs in Canada due to their credentials not being recognized by the Canadian employers. The policy of prioritizing international students in the Canadian economic immigration became more evident in 2021 when Canada invited everyone (27,332 candidates) who had accumulated at least 12 months of Canadian working experience from the Express Entry pool, followed by the launch of the Temporary Pathway to Permanent Residency program that included 40,000 spots for international students that have graduated from a Canadian post-secondary educational institution.
Sadly, throughout my career, I have seen a tremendous amount of international students who have had their dreams of staying in Canada permanently shattered as a result of various mistakes they had made at different stages of their Canadian journey due to complexity of the immigration rules, misinformation and lack of proper planning.
Here is a list of the seven biggest mistakes, based on my experience, made by the international students that prevent them from obtaining permanent residence of Canada:
Mistake Number one: Students enroll into educational institutions that do not qualify for the Post-Graduation Work Permit program in Canada
What is a Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP)? PGWP is an open work permit (allows the holder to work for any Canadian employer without the requirement of a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment from Service Canada) that is granted to qualified applicants that have completed a qualified study program at a qualified Canadian educational institution. PGWP can be only issued once in a lifetime and is the key to obtaining at least 12 months of Canadian working experience needed in order to qualify for permanent residency under the federal Canadian Experience Class economic immigration program. Even if some provincial immigration programs do not require 12 months of Canadian working experience, applicants for a provincial nomination usually have to be in possession of a valid PGWP, be currently working for a Canadian employer or have to accumulate some Canadian working experience in order to obtain enough points to get selected from the provincial pool of candidates.
Canadian post-secondary educational institutions have to be approved by a provincial or territorial government to host international students and have to receive a Designated Learning Institution (DLI) designation. A DLI designation is then often used as proof of legitimacy by various private colleges and universities to recruit international students from overseas. However, what these institutions or their representatives don’t often mention is that their students will not be able to obtain a Post-Graduation Work Permit upon completion of their study programs. In order for an educational institution to qualify for the PGWP program, they have to meet another set of requirements that goes above and beyond the requirements for obtaining a Designated Learning Institution designation.
Here’s a list of requirements by the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) for Canadian educational institutions authorized to participate in the PGWP program:
- a public post-secondary school, such as a college, trade/technical school, university or CEGEP (in Quebec)
- a private post-secondary school in Quebec that operates under the same rules as public schools in Quebec
- a private secondary or post-secondary school in Quebec that offers qualifying programs of 900 hours or longer that lead to a Diplôme d’études professionnelles (DEP—vocational studies diploma), or an Attestation de spécialisation professionnelle (ASP—vocational studies accreditation)
- An ASP can be less than 900 hours if combined with a DEP.
- a Canadian private school that can award degrees under provincial law (for example, Associate, Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD degree), but only if you’re enrolled in a study program that leads to a degree as authorized by the province.
Tragically, there have been a lot of cases where international students were misled by private educational organizations into thinking that they will be able to easily obtain authorization to engage in employment upon graduation. Often, the students find out about the requirements of the PGWP program after they have already invested time and money into an unqualified educational institution, sometimes after graduation. In these situations, students who want to continue staying and working in Canada are faced with an option of finding an employer who is willing to support them through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program that requires a positive Labour Market Impact Assessment granted by Employment and Social Development Canada (a.k.a. Service Canada).
Mistake Number Two: Students do not study full time
This requirement is often overlooked by international students and it is a painful mistake to make when it later results in a surprised refusal of a PGWP application. I have seen many students come into our office in tears with the IRCC refusal letters in their hands asking what can be done.
One of the requirements for the Post Graduation Work Permit program is maintaining a full-time student status throughout the program of study during each academic session. The definition of full-time or part-time varies depending on the educational institution and it’s the responsibility of each student to know how many credits they have to take each semester to maintain the full-time status.
Students can run into issues with the availability of classes or financial challenges, however it’s important to know that even one part-time semester will most likely result in a refusal of a PGWP application, unless an IRCC officer is not paying attention to the applicant’s transcript or decides to cut them a break.
Additionally, if you have a spouse who has received an Open Work Permit based on your status as an international student, losing your full-time student status will result in violation of the conditions on your spouse’s open work permit.
Exceptions to this rule are made for the final academic session, leave from studies, and if you had to stop studying or change to part-time studies between March 2020 and the fall semester in 2020 due to the reasons related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mistake Number Three: The program of study is not long enough
Many international students use their Canadian study program as a mere stepping stone on their way to obtaining permanent residency. As a result, they pick the shortest diploma program available to save money and time, not fully realizing the potential negative consequences encountered during the future application for a PGWP and in trying accumulate the required Canadian working experience.
In order to qualify for a PGWP, a program of study chosen by a student has to be at least 8 months in length. Another interesting aspect of the PGWP program is that the validity of the work permit will be directly related to the length of the study program completed by a student. Particularly, for study programs between 8 months and less than 2 years a PGWP will be issued for the exact duration of the study program. For programs of study of 2 years or more, a PGWP can be issued with the maximum validity of 3 years.
Tip! If you complete a two year study program in let’s say 1 year by taking additional credits every semester and not taking breaks, the validity of the PGWP will still be determined by the length of your study program and will be issued for a 3 year duration.
In order to qualify for the Canadian Experience Class immigration program, the applicant has to accumulate at least 12 months of qualified Canadian working experience. If your PGWP is only valid for 8 months, this becomes a challenging task. Even if students obtain a PGWP that is valid for 12 months, they often don’t think about the fact that it might take a long time for them to find suitable employment to gain qualified Canadian working experience (in order to qualify, working experience has to be at skill level 0,A and B according to the National Occupation Classification). Students don’t think about that they might have to change jobs or deal with layoffs. Moreover, one year of Canadian working experience might not give you enough points to get selected from either the federal or provincial competitive immigration pools of candidates and only 2 years of working experience can put you above that line.
Therefore, I always recommend clients to enroll into at least a 2 year program at an eligible education institution in order to obtain a 3 year work permit. Master’s or doctoral degrees that are 16-23 months in length will also qualify for a 3 year PGWP. 3 year open work permit will give you enough time to find a suitable job, to reach the required skill level, if needed, to deal with unexpected challenges and breaks in employment, and to accumulate enough qualified Canadian working experience to apply for permanent residency.
Remember! A Post Graduation Work Permit is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Even if a student goes back to studying and obtains another qualified credential in Canada, a new PGWP will not be issued to them, so it is extremely important to make it count.
Mistake Number Four: Students do not extend their Study Permits on time
This is something I have seen a lot during my practice. Young people often forget about the expiration date on their study permits and do not apply to extend them, not realizing the potential severity of the consequences. As a result, international students lose their legal status which can eventually lead to removal from Canada, being barred from returning to Canada (either for 12 months or for a lifetime), inability to obtain immigration documents in the future (including a PGWP) and not being able to qualify for permanent residence.
Luckily, the government provides temporary residents with a chance to restore their status within 90 days of expiration. If, however, an application to restore temporary resident status has not been submitted within the 90 days, a foreign national becomes inadmissible and can only overcome that inadmissibility with an application for a Temporary Resident Permit (TRP). TRPs are not issued lightly. The Minister of Immigration has to report to the Parliament in an annual report on the number of TRPs issued and the reasons for issuing them.
Simply put, losing your immigration status in Canada will ruin your changes of obtaining permanent residence.
Mistake Number Five: Students do not actively pursue their course or program of study, while they are in Canada
According to the IRCC, international students are required to “actively pursue” their study program in Canada and be able to demonstrate that they are making “reasonable progress” toward the completion of their courses in the time allotted by the program.
Students are allowed to change educational institutions and programs of study (students can begin or resume their studies at a new institution within 150 days) and are allowed to take academic leave of up to 150 days due to a considerable reason, such as pregnancy or family emergency. However, when an international student takes four years to complete a two year program, changes schools several times, changes programs of study and fails classes, an IRCC officer will most likely determine that he or she is not actively pursuing education in Canada and will refuse a Study Permit extension application.
My advice is simple – pick a program of study and complete it as soon as possible, then focus on obtaining permanent residency. You can continue your education after receiving PR and you will not have to pay international student fees that are much higher than tuition paid by Canadians.
Mistake Number Six: Students engage in unauthorized work during studies
One of the great features of the international students program in Canada is the ability to work while studying. Authorization to engage in employment in Canada during studies provides students with an opportunity to earn income and to get a head start on post-graduation employment (Remember that work experience obtained while studying does not count towards the Canadian Experience Class program requirements).
However, there are strict rules around employment for international students, including:
- Working on campus (of an institution where they are full time students):
- Be in a possession of a valid study permit;
- Maintaining a full-time student status;
- Can work unlimited number of job or hours.
- Working off-campus:
- Be in a possession of a valid study permit;
- Maintaining a full-time student status;
- Be engaged in a post-secondary program of study of at least 6 months;
- Can work up to 20 hours per week during academic sessions once they have commenced their program of study;
- Can work full time during regularly scheduled breaks between academic sessions.
- Co-Op Work (work that is an essential part of a post-secondary academic, vocational or professional training program):
- Requires a work permit;
- The work cannot be more than 50% of the total program of study.
Unfortunately, many international students disregard these rules, knowingly or unknowingly.
Non-compliance with study permit conditions may result in enforcement action by the Canadian government and lead to the removal of international students from Canada. Non-compliance with study permit conditions or engaging in unauthorized work or study may also negatively affect future immigration applications. For example, a subsequent study permit or work permit may not be issued until a period of 6 months has passed, since the cessation of the unauthorized work or study or failure to comply with a condition.
Mistake Number Seven: Students don’t plan for the future permanent residence application process/qualifications
All of the abovementioned mistakes that international students make are due to lack of information, misinformation and poor planning or lack thereof. It is completely understandable that it is difficult for young people and even their parents to plan beyond arranging of the initial study program in Canada. Moreover, most international students are initially contacted by sales agents representing Canadian educational institutions (mostly private schools, not eligible for the PGWP program). Their only goal is to make a sale, so they can receive commissions. It is not in the best interest of these individuals to provide complete and unbiased information to potential international students and their parents about the complexities of the Canadian immigration law, even if they have some helpful knowledge.
Canadian immigration rules and systems are complex, unforgiving and are changing continuously. Studying in Canada is an expensive long-term commitment and if you are lucky enough to be able to afford Canadian education and to receive a Study Permit (the refusal rates for Study Permit applications are rather high for countries outside of the Canada’s immediate “circle of friends”), it is highly advisable to do proper due diligence and to map out a detailed immigration plan.
If you read this article, you are already half way there. This information will help you to get through the education stage of your Canadian immigration journey without destroying your changes to qualify for permanent residency. The next step is to talk to a qualified professional about the permanent immigration process and to determine which immigration program is the most suitable for you, based on your personal factors. Please do not make decisions based on advice from friends, relatives, education agents, representatives of educational institutions, travel agencies and self-proclaimed Canadian immigration experts – unauthorized consultants and lawyers located outside of Canada. Here’s a link from the official government of Canada website on who is authorized to provide advice on Canadian immigration:
Tip: If you are seeking consultation or help from a lawyer, make sure they specialize in practicing Canadian immigration law and have proven experience in this area.
References:
- 2019 Project Atlas, a global research initiative.
- Global Affairs Canada (2019-08-22). “Canada’s International Education Strategy (2019-2024)”. GAC. Retrieved 2020-03-11.
- 2021 Best Countries Report from the US News & World Report
- Canadian Bureau for International Education, International Student Survey, 2018.