Canadian international professionals seem generally supportive of the government’s recent decision to copy Australia’s 24-hour per week limit on international students working hours – as long as the tinkering doesn’t further confuse students who are already reeling from all the recent immigration changes.
Prior to COVID, international students were able to work 20 hours per week during the school year. However, since COVID, the government had increased the maximum to 40 hours per week. That pilot program will end May 31 and be replaced by a more restrictive cap of 24 hours per week. Australia also recently announced foreign students could work up to 48 hours each fortnight.
Mike Henniger, CEO of Illume Student Advisory Services expressed full support for students balancing full-time work and study commitments. However, he voiced concerns regarding multiple policy changes occurring simultaneously and its potential impact on Canada’s brand. For instance, Henniger noted the recent changes to the visa process in Canada that prevents partners from accompanying students on their visas. Consequently, Henniger highlighted instances where students, due to these changes, are now reconsidering their acceptance of previously secured offers.
“We’ve heard from quite a few students who initially intended to come but they’re now reconsidering because their spouses are ineligible to join them,” said Henniger. “All these changes together will undoubtedly shake up how people will view the Canadian brand.”
In January of this year, Immigration Canada also put in place limitations to visas significantly reducing the total number of international students who will be coming into the country.
The Vice President of Corporate Development, Applied Research and International Operations at SAIT in Calgary, Alberta, Mark Butler, indicated he is personally on the fence about the 24 hours of work. He said while his international student association would prefer more hours, there are advantages to the new number. He met with SAIT’s international student association after the change and they indicated that 24 hours is better than 20 as it allows students, many of whom do 12-hour shift work, to pick up shifts two days a week.
“Some students always want more hours of course, as costs are going up and it’s especially tough in later years, but this seems like it has some advantages,” said Butler. Butler said SAIT has about 6500 full-time international students and some students have the ability to manage full time hours and full time studies, but others cannot. “It might not seem like a huge difference but the international student association told me that a lot of their students do shift work with 12 hours so they can do two shifts and fit it into two days instead of shorter shifts over three to seven days.”
Another issue raised is the possibility of students resorting to underground employment, exceeding their legal work hour limits.
“Some students are really feeling the pinch financially and may resort to securing jobs under the table just to make ends meet,” said Henniger. “This kind of situation can easily result in exploitation.”
“I can only talk anecdotally, but you are hearing there are occasions that students are looking for other sources of funding,” said Butler. “Potentially now more students will look for other sources of revenue if the current dollars over 24 hours doesn’t meet their increased living costs due to inflation.”
Rod Skinkle, owner of Devant, said the ongoing changes might have a real impact on both employers, as well as post-secondary staff. Skinkle said based upon data they have it’s clear that international students have been keeping many establishments afloat with their labour. With Canada reducing both the number of students coming in and their hours, that might negatively impact many organizations.
Skinkle also said the changes will have a real impact on student services staff at post-secondary institutes. He said with the changes they will likely be getting more questions than ever and students will need to get help with everything from finding jobs to financial management to partner support.
“The reality is student services are often very stretched because they have hundreds or even thousands of students to support,” said Skinkle, adding he created Devant in part to support the support staff. About 45,000 Canadian international students use the platform to provide international students with information about workplace etiquette, resume building and interview skills both before they come to Canada and once they arrive. It also connects them with legitimate employers and provides the data back to the client schools. “In this new environment I expect our services will be even more important as it will ensure students come prepared to student services so the professionals in the post-secondary sector can provide real high level value.”
Butler said from his experience at SAIT, it’s hard to predict if the changes will have an impact on student mental health. However, he said his data shows that students from all cultures really benefit from having community support.
“Overall our international students perform on par with our domestic students,” said Butler. “But perhaps the best indicator of mental health success is family and/or local community supports.”
