Sean Fraser [IRCC Minister] announcement for international students

IRCC Minister Sean Fraser made a new announcement regarding international students and addressing labour shortage in Canada. The announcement happened on October 7th, 2022 at  9:00 am EST (Toronto time) in Ottawa.

Quick facts for this announcement :

Most post-secondary international students are allowed to work on and/or off campus, with their authorization to work printed directly on their study permit. In the past, nearly half of the post-secondary international students in Canada reported earning income during their studies.

Prior to today’s announcement, any student with the authorization to work off-campus was permitted to work a maximum of 20 hours per week while class is in session, as well as full-time during scheduled breaks. Students eligible to work on campus are not subject to a cap on hours for on-campus work.

From January 1, 2022, to the end of August 2022, more than 452,000 study permit applications have been processed. During the same period in 2021, which was a record year, 367,000 applications were processed. This represents an increase of 23%.

IRCC processed nearly 119,000 study permit extension applications in 2021, with an approval rate of 97%. From January 1, 2022, to the end of August 2022, more than 135,000 were processed, with an approval rate of 96%.

Applications being considered as part of the pilot to automate study permit extensions will need to meet certain criteria in order to be automated. Applications that fall outside of the criteria will be manually reviewed by officers. The automated process will not refuse applications or recommend refusals. Any decision to refuse an application will continue to be made by an officer.

Source:https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2022/10/international-students-to-help-address-canadas-labour-shortage.html