The latest change concerns international students who graduate from colleges in Canada, who are affected by the requirement to study designated fields in order to stay and work.
Student at a college in Canada
PHOTO: CONFEDERATION COLLEGE
Increase opportunities for international college students
According to information updated on the morning of March 12 (Vietnam time) on the website of the Canadian Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC), international students only need to complete degree programs such as bachelor's degrees to be able to apply for a post-graduation work permit (PGWP), regardless of the type of training institution. This means that international students who graduate from colleges or polytechnics will have more opportunities to apply for a PGWP.
This is good news because according to previous regulations, those who study at colleges or polytechnics, if they want to stay in Canada to work, must register to study one of the 989 training programs announced by IRCC. These are the programs that are in long-term labor shortage in Canada, divided into 6 groups: transportation, agriculture and agri-food; vocational training; STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics); health care; education.
In general, the above changes help bachelor's degree graduates from colleges and polytechnics to still be able to apply for PGWP without being limited by their field of study as before, according to immigration expert Tung Phan, Director of Phan Immigration (Canada) and Director of CEI Toronto office (Canada).
Mr. Tung said that IRCC also updated the list of priority occupations in the Express Entry system (a skilled worker immigration program) at the end of February, including 4 fields. Another notable point is that IRCC has eliminated many occupations related to information technology such as programmers, computer engineers, software engineers, etc., according to CIC News . However, workers in this industry can still seek provincial nomination to find opportunities, according to Canadian immigration experts.
Also related to the PGWP application regulations, IRCC now requires applicants to submit an additional English or French language certificate according to the Canadian Language Assessment Framework, at level 7 for university students and level 5 for college students. The above test results must be less than 2 years old at the time of application.
Other policies applicable in 2025
From 2025, IRCC has decided to reduce the number of new study permits issued by 10% compared to 2024, only granting 437,000 to international students. The restriction applies to master's and doctoral degrees, instead of only bachelor's degrees as before, and this group is given priority for 12% of the quota. Also from this year, IRCC has stopped the Financial Proof-Free Study Program (SDS) for international students from Vietnam and 13 other countries.
Earlier in mid-January, IRCC also began tightening its rules for working with family members of international students. Specifically, the spouses of master’s students are now only allowed to work if their accompanying family member’s program of study lasts at least 16 months. In addition, the spouses of doctoral students and those studying certain “professional and qualified” programs will also be allowed to work.
In early January, IRCC expanded opportunities for international students to stay and work, adding nearly 40 training programs and a new field to the list of long-term labor shortages. In November 2024, the agency also increased the number of hours international students are allowed to work off-campus during school hours, up to 24 hours per week instead of just 20 hours as before.
In 2024, a number of other regulations issued by the Canadian government will also continue to take effect in 2025, such as doubling the financial proof requirement to CAD 20,635 (VND 359 million) for international students; requiring international students who want to transfer schools while studying in Canada to apply for a new study permit, instead of just updating related information on the IRCC system.
According to a report from IRCC, Canada attracted more than 1 million international students to study in 2023. IRCC statistics also show that the total number of Vietnamese studying in Canada has been on a continuous downward trend, from 21,480 in 2019 to 16,140 in 2022. However, in 2023, Vietnamese students in Canada increased slightly, to 17,175 people and ranked 8th in terms of quantity.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/canada-tiep-tuc-mo-rong-co-hoi-de-du-hoc-sinh-o-lai-lam-viec-185250312181022699.htm
Comment (0)