Work and Study in Canada

Gain valuable work experience and supplement your spending allowance with part-time student jobs for international students.

While you must supply sufficient evidence that you can pay for your tuition and living expenses before you arrive in Canada, there are a number of work permit programs for international students and their spouses/common law partners that make working in Canada possible.

Working in Canada can go a long way towards helping you establish business contacts for the future.

Work permits for students - Working on campus

You may work on campus at the institution where you study without a work permit if:

• you are a full-time student at:
• a public post-secondary institution, such as a college or university, or a collège d'enseignement général et professionnel (CEGEP) in Quebec
• a private post-secondary institution that operates under the same rules and regulations as a public institution, and receives at least 50 percent of its financing for its overall operations from government grants (currently only private college-level educational institutions in Quebec qualify) or
• a Canadian private institution authorized by provincial statute to confer degrees and
• you have a valid study permit.

Off-Campus Jobs

The Off-Campus Work Permit Program allows certain foreign students to work off campus while completing their studies. To qualify, you must be a full-time student enrolled at a participating publicly funded post-secondary educational institution or in an approved program at an eligible privately funded institution.

Participating publicly funded post-secondary educational institutions:

• are public post-secondary institutions, such as a college or university or a collège d'enseignement général et professionnel (CEGEP) in Quebec
• are private post-secondary institutions that operate under the same rules and regulations as public institutions, and receive at least 50 percent of their financing for their overall operations from government grants (currently only private college-level educational institutions in Quebec qualify) and
• have signed an off-campus work agreement with their provincial or territorial government.

Eligible privately funded post-secondary institutions:

• are located in a province or territory that has signed a memorandum of understanding with CIC
• have signed an off-campus work agreement with their provincial or territorial government and
• have approval from their provincial or territorial government to grant specific degrees.

Please note that not all programs offered by private post-secondary educational institutions qualify. For more information on qualifying programs, contact CANGO.

To work off campus, you must apply for a work permit. Do not begin to work off campus until you have received your work permit. The work permit authorizes you to work up to 20 hours per week during regular academic sessions, and full time during scheduled breaks (for example, winter and summer holidays, and spring break).