Work Permit Program for International Students Needs Reform

Source: The Globe & Mail

A federal government report showing that many international students are working in low-wage jobs after graduation is leading to calls to redesign Canada’s liberal employment rules for foreign graduates.

Canada is unusual among the world’s top destinations for international students in allowing graduates on a work permit to work in any field after they finish their studies. An internal report from Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) found that the post-graduation work permit program (PGWP) was creating a poorly paid, underemployed work force among recent international student graduates at colleges and universities. 

For the full article, visit The Globe & Mail.

Canadian Immigration Lawyer Warns of Challenges for Foreign Students

Source: Canadian Lawyer via Academica

Canada will have to closely monitor the performance of its shifting policies toward education- and business-based immigration if it wishes to preserve its fundamental diversity, writes Jennifer Nees, a Toronto-based business immigration lawyer. While the Pan Am Games have given Canadians recent cause to celebrate their country’s diversity, Nees adds that “the last seven months have shown a different story in terms of our current immigration policy.” While earlier systems might have offered a clearer path for foreign students to obtain work permits and begin new careers in Canada, Nees adds that “now, however, these students are getting lost in a maze of complex new systems with operating glitches and inconsistent processing.”

International Students at Niagara Claim They Were Denied Work Permits for Taking Online Courses

Source: Globe & Mail via Academica

More than 50 Niagara College students have sought legal representation after they were denied Canadian work permits, allegedly because they took online courses as part of their program. Ravi Jain, an immigration lawyer representing the students, says 30 of his clients have already received rejections on their work permit applications since graduating. While international students have received work permits in the past after completing Niagara’s programs, this year they say they are being refused because Citizenship and Immigration Canada considers online courses to be “distance learning.”

Canada May Be Leaving Billions in Education Exports On the Table

Source: Globe & Mail via Academica

Canada is seventh on the list of destinations for international students but could be much higher, according to a Globe and Mail op-ed. The Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE) projects that the number of students seeking education outside their home country will rise from 4.1 M in 2010 to 7.2 M by 2025. However, due in part to slow visa processing and lack of coordination, Canada could miss out. “[The challenge is] to develop a cohesive Canadian strategy to feature, highlight, promote our academic institutions, and that shouldn’t be just a city-specific or a provincial-specific strategy,” said Patricia McQuillan of Brand Matters Inc.

Canada: Internal Reviews Uncover Delays in Visa Processing

Source: The PIE News

Canada’s visa woes continue as multiple internal government reviews have revealed delays and errors in visa processing, seeing processing times increase by a third for study permits and double for permanent residence permits.

Members of the Canadian Bureau for International Education are “deeply concerned about the ballooning processing times that affect both their current and prospective students”, according to its vice-president, membership, public policy and communications, Jennifer Humphries.

“Timeliness, or its opposite, makes a huge difference in the choices that students make for their future,” she told The PIE News.

“To achieve the ambitions of Canada’s International Education Strategy, it is critical that government departments work together cohesively and make their shared objectives the priority, not departmental interests,” she urged. “It’s also critical that sufficient resources be allocated to deliver on the objectives.”

 

To read the full article, please visit The PIE News.