International students in Waterloo region are breathing a sign of relief as the federal government announced it will be temporarily lifting the cap on the number of hours they can work each week.
The announcement, which was made on Friday, has given many students something to look forward to as they now face less limitations.
International students from the University of Waterloo say getting a job can be challenging.
“We have all the regulations about not working more than several hours,” said Tianqi Wu.
Currently, international students are only allowed to work 20 hours per week. The only time that restriction does not apply is during scheduled breaks such as reading week, the winter holiday and summer break.
“We’re lifting the limit of 20 hours per week that eligible students are allowed to work while studying,” said Sean Fraser, the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship.
The federal government is temporarily lifting the cap in an effort to help address the labour shortage.
Statistics Canada reported nearly one million job vacancies in the second quarter of this year, the highest quarterly number on record.
“This means that more than 500,000 international students who are already here in Canada are going to be eligible to work more if they choose to do so. This change is going to help sustain Canada’s post-pandemic growth and provide a boost to thousands of employees looking to add to their staff,” said Fraser.
This new change is welcome news to some international students in Waterloo.
“It’s pretty great, it’s a great chance. We can earn our own money,” said one student.
But others, like Duan Dhi, who only choose to work 20 hours a month says it won’t make a difference.
“The most important thing is do the school work. I would only take 10 hours for me.”
The pilot project will run from Nov. 15 until the end of 2023.
