Raised residing prices to revised work hours and stricter research permits: A glance again on the main modifications to Canada’s PGWP in 2024
Canada has lengthy been a popular vacation spot for Indian college students looking for high quality schooling and promising profession alternatives overseas. The nation’s welcoming immigration insurance policies, numerous cultural panorama, and a nicely accepted Publish-Commencement Work Allow (PGWP) program have traditionally attracted a major variety of worldwide college students, significantly from India.
Nonetheless, 2024 witnessed a sequence of coverage shifts and diplomatic tensions which have begun to change this panorama, resulting in a noticeable decline in curiosity amongst potential college students.
Diplomatic strains impacting pupil mobility
The diplomatic rift between India and Canada, which escalated in 2024, has launched uncertainties in visa processing and general pupil mobility. The discount of diplomatic employees and the following slowdown in visa providers have significantly affected college students from areas like Punjab, the place there’s a excessive demand for Canadian schooling alternatives. Considerations over potential disruptions to review plans have grown, with some college students reconsidering their decisions in mild of those geopolitical tensions.
Revised PGWP eligibility standards
In 2024, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) carried out a number of modifications to the PGWP program:
Curriculum Licensing Agreements: As of Could 15, worldwide college students enrolled in applications supplied by curriculum licensing agreements between personal and public faculties turned ineligible for PGWPs. This adjustment aimed to tighten the standards for work allow eligibility, affecting college students who had deliberate their schooling based mostly on these collaborative applications.
Grasp’s Diploma Graduates: Efficient February 15, graduates from grasp’s applications, whatever the program’s size, turned eligible for three-year work permits. This transformation advantages these enrolled in shorter grasp’s applications, offering them with prolonged time to achieve Canadian work expertise and pursue everlasting residency pathways.
Language Proficiency Necessities: Beginning November 1, PGWP candidates are required to show language proficiency with a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) rating of seven for college graduates and 5 for school graduates. This new requirement underscores the emphasis on language abilities for profitable integration into the Canadian workforce.
Discipline of Examine Restrictions: Introduced on September 18, eligibility for PGWPs now necessitates that worldwide college students graduate from fields linked to occupations experiencing long-term shortages, corresponding to agriculture, healthcare, STEM, trades, and transport. This coverage, efficient November 1, excludes faculty and vocational program graduates from different fields, doubtlessly narrowing alternatives for a lot of college students.
Enhance in primary monetary necessities
The price of residing requirement for research allow candidates doubled on January 1, rising from $10,000 to $20,635 for a single applicant. This substantial improve provides a monetary burden on potential college students, who should now show increased monetary capability along with protecting tuition and journey bills.
Along with this, with a view to handle the inflow of worldwide college students, IRCC launched an consumption cap on research allow functions.
In 2024, the cap aimed for about 360,000 accredited new research permits, marking a 35% lower from 2023. This discount was a part of a broader technique to steadiness instructional sources and infrastructure with the variety of incoming college students. For 2025, an extra 10% discount from the 2024 goal was introduced, setting the issuance purpose at 437,000 research permits.
Stricter rules for research allow holders
The introduction of Provincial Attestation Letters (PALs) on January 22 requires most post-secondary research allow candidates to acquire a PAL as proof of credible admission, aligning with the brand new consumption caps. Moreover, as of November 15, worldwide college students wishing to alter establishments should apply for a brand new research allow, changing the earlier, extra versatile system.
Modifications to off-campus work hours
The non permanent allowance for limitless off-campus work hours, launched through the pandemic, ended on April 29. The permissible work hours had been subsequently adjusted. Within the interval previous to November 15:, Worldwide college students had been restricted to twenty hours of off-campus work per week throughout tutorial classes. Nonetheless, after November 15, this restrict elevated to 24 hours per week, providing college students barely extra flexibility to assist themselves financially whereas sustaining their tutorial commitments.
Revised spousal work allow eligibility
Modifications carried out on March 19 restricted spousal open work permits to spouses of worldwide college students enrolled in grasp’s and doctoral applications. Exceptions had been made for sure undergraduate skilled levels. Additional restrictions introduced in September, but to take impact, suggest limiting eligibility to spouses of grasp’s college students in applications of a minimum of 16 months’ period.
Looking forward to 2025, the cumulative impact of those coverage modifications, mixed with ongoing diplomatic tensions, is prone to additional reshape the worldwide notion of Canada as a research vacation spot. With stricter eligibility standards for work permits, elevated monetary necessities, and diminished flexibility in research allow rules, Canada could witness a continued decline in worldwide pupil curiosity.
