‘I don’t think it’s fair’: International students in Waterloo Region oppose 20-hour weekly work cap
CTV
International students in Waterloo Region are hoping the federal government reconsiders a decision to cap their work at 20 hours per week.
International students in Waterloo Region are hoping the federal government reconsiders its decision to reintroduce a policy that caps their work at 20 hours per week.
Last November, the government lifted the work hour limit for international students to allow them to work off-campus for up to 40 hours per week during the semester. Before that, they could only work 20 hours per week.
“It scares me,” Harshit Thakrar, a Conestoga College student, said. “It’s already really difficult to manage everything with rent and stuff. The thought that hours are going to be reduced even more – I’m not really sure how everyone is going to manage everything.”
The policy was always set to end on Dec. 31, 2023.
“The temporary lifting of the 20-hour limit for off-campus work is helping to address Canada’s labour shortage, and provides an opportunity for students to have a fuller workplace experience while they study,” the Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said in a statement to CTV News.
International students already pay significantly more for tuition. According to Statistics Canada, they’re typically charged at least five times more than Canadian students. Students say that cost, on top of groceries and other bills, creates financial strain that more work hours help to ease.
“Tuition fees are quite expensive for all of those students who are coming to Canada and I think the government should think about this,” Conestoga College student Rahul Thakur said. “I think [students] should be allowed to work for 40 hours so they can actually pay their rent, and their semester fees.”
Toronto could see the first taste of winter weather this morning as a low-pressure system brings snow to the city on Wednesday morning.
Montreal's transit authority failed to properly consult with the public over its 'indefensible' plan to force an elderly couple out of their home to build a new ventilation station in Rosemont-La-Petite-Patrie, a commission was told Tuesday evening.
In the oldest Chinatown in the entire country sits Loy Sing, a business that holds the title of longest continually run Chinese business in North America. It has now been in operation for 136 years and counting.
The Provincial Auditor of Saskatchewan is recommending that the province improve its system of monitoring sales of farmland to foreign entities.
With seven months under their belt, Gather Local Market at River Landing continues to try new ideas to move their concept forward. The latest addition is helping small businesses get off the ground.
A Quebec man has been sentenced to prison after attempting to smuggle more than 1,000 forged documents into the country, including Canadian permanent resident cards and driver's licences.
An outspoken former Calgary bishop who was outspoken on several issues such as LGBTQ policy and school HPV vaccinations has died.
Revelations about a cheeky comment during a dinner meeting at president-elect Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort between Trump and Prime Justin Minister Trudeau last week are creating waves.
The Waterloo Regional Police Service has issued a public plea after three youths fell through the ice at a Cambridge pond.
A man was severely injured Tuesday morning when he leaped onto a polar bear to protect his wife from being mauled in the Far North community of Fort Severn.
Quebec's health minister has tabled a bill that would force new doctors trained in the province to spend the first five years of their careers working in Quebec's public health network.