Canada Tweaks its Work-Permit Program to Better Retain International Students
Foreign college students studying in Canada may find it easier to work in the country after they graduate thanks to
changes to the Citizenship and Immigration department’s Post-Graduation Work Permit
Program, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education (“Canada Makes it Easier for Foreign Students to Work After Graduation,” April 23, 2008).
Under the new changes, eligible foreign graduates from the country's colleges and universities are no longer
required to have a job offer to get a work permit and they may work anywhere in Canada for up to three years after
receiving their degree, as opposed to two years under the previous program.
The changes come after foreign–study academic advisors and students complained about the restrictions of the 2005
Post-Graduation Work Permit Program. Under the previous program, international students had only 90 days after
graduation to land a job, potential employers often lacked proper information about the program, and the program’s
official documents often contained contradictory information.
In a study conducted last October, Sheryl Bond, a professor of education at Queen’s University in Ontario,
found that out of 900 foreign students surveyed about the 2005 program, only one-third were planning to stay in
Canada after they graduated, The Chronicle reported (“Report Assails Canadian Program Aimed at Drawing Foreign
Students,” Oct. 27, 2007).
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