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Here are the key details:

Eligibility:

• Students must be enrolled full-time in an academic, vocational, or professional training program that lasts at least six months and leads to a degree, diploma, or certificate.
• They must have started their program of study.
• A Social Insurance Number (SIN) is required to work.

 Work Hours:

• As of November 8, 2024, eligible students can work up to 24 hours per week during academic sessions.
• During scheduled breaks, such as summer or winter holidays, they can work full-time.

Other Conditions:

• Part-time students in their final semester may also qualify if they meet certain criteria.
• Students cannot work off-campus before their studies begin or if they take unauthorized breaks or reduce their course load to part-time for non-final semester reasons.

Canada will set an intake cap on international student permit applications to stabilize new growth for a period of two years. For 2024, the cap is expected to result in approximately 360,000 approved study permits, a decrease of 35% from 2023.

Significant decreases in provinces where the international student population has seen the most unsustainable growth. Study permit renewals will not be impacted. Those pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees, and elementary and secondary education are not included in the cap. Current study permit holders will not be affected.

To implement the cap, as of January 22, 2024, every study permit application submitted to IRCC will also require an attestation letter from a province or territory. Provinces and territories are expected to establish a process for issuing attestation letters to students by no later than March 31, 2024.

If you apply without an attestation letter your application will be returned unless you’re either

• a minor child in a primary or secondary school (kindergarten to grade 12)
• a student in a masters, PhD or other post-graduate program
• a student applying to extend your study permit

In order to better align the Post-Graduation Work Permit Program, we are changing the eligibility criteria:

• Starting September 1, 2024, international students who begin a study program that is part of a curriculum licensing arrangement will no longer be eligible for a post­graduation work permit upon graduation. Under curriculum licensing agreements, students physically attend a private college that has been licensed to deliver the curriculum of an associated public college. These programs have seen significant growth in attracting international students in recent years, though they have less oversight than public colleges and they act as a loophole with regards to post-graduation work permit eligibility.
• Graduates of master’s degree programs will soon be eligible to apply for a 3-year work permit. Under current criteria, the length of a post­graduation work permit is based solely on the length of an individual’s study program, hindering master’s graduates by limiting the amount of time they have to gain work experience and potentially transition to permanent residence.

In the weeks ahead, open work permits will only be available to spouses of international students in master’s and doctoral programs. The spouses of international students in other levels of study, including undergraduate and college programs, will no longer be eligible.

In response to labour market disruptions during the pandemic and post-pandemic recovery, a temporary policy was introduced on 3 occasions to provide an additional 18-month work permit to post-graduation work permit holders as their initial work permit was expiring. 

Foreign nationals with a post-graduation work permit expiring up to December 31, 2023, remain eligible to apply. However, this temporary policy will not be extended further.