Increment in Financial Requirement for International Students.
With effect from January 1, 2024, the cost of living financial requirement for study permit applicants will be raised from $10,000 to $20,635 in addition to their first year tuition fee and travel cost.
This is to ensure international students are financially prepared for life in Canada, so henceforth, this threshold will be adjusted yearly when statistics Canada updates the low-income cut off (LICO). LICO represents the minimum income necessary to ensure an individual does not have to spend greater than average portion of income on necessities.
This change will apply to new study permit applications received on or after January 1, 2024.
The waiver on the 20-hour-per-week limit on the number of hours international students are allowed to work off campus while class is in session will be extended to April 30, 2024. International students already in Canada, as well as applicants who have already submitted an application for a study permit as of December 7, 2023, will be able to work off campus more than 20 hours per week until that time. We continue to examine options for this policy in the future, such as expanding off-campus work hours for international students to 30 hours per week while class is in session.
The facilitative measure that has allowed international students to count time spent studying online towards the length of a future post-graduation work permit, as long as it constitutes less than 50% of the program of study, will continue to be in place for students who begin a study program before September 1, 2024. This measure will no longer apply to students who begin a study program on or after that date. Distance learning facilitation measures were first implemented in 2020 in response to travel restrictions during the pandemic, and were reduced in scope in September 2022. At this point, the vast majority of international students are studying in person in Canada.
In response to labour market disruptions during the pandemic and post-pandemic recovery, a temporary policy was introduced on 3 occasions to provide an additional 18-month work permit to post-graduation work permit holders as their initial work permit was expiring. Foreign nationals with a post-graduation work permit expiring up to December 31, 2023, remain eligible to apply. However, this temporary policy will not be extended further.
For more information, visit https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2023/12/revised-requirements-to-better-protect-international-students.html
