International students in B.C. welcome decision to lift 20-hour work cap

Students and advocates in B.C. are celebrating Friday's announcement that the federal government is temporarily lifting the cap limiting the number of hours international students can work off campus each week.

Previously, international students were only allowed up to 20 hours of paid off-campus work for each week class was in session. Now, they will be able to work full-time hours.

"It was much needed," said Jashandeep Singh Brar, co-founder of Team We Care, a support group consisting of former and current international students.

"For a very long time, we have advocated for it."

The previous limit, Brar and others say, disadvantaged international students who struggled to find flexible employers while battling the ever-climbing cost of living in B.C.'s Lower Mainland.

They also argue the system left international students open to exploitation. 

Brar said students would often work extra hours under the table, where they would be paid below minimum wage and in cash. He said his organization has heard from many international students who were working for less than $10 an hour — sometimes as little as $5 an hour. 

"It's a win-win. Students can work legally now and the government will be able to take taxes," said Brar.

The cap has been temporarily lifted for a pilot project that will run from Nov. 15, 2022, to Dec. 21, 2023.

International students struggled under previous cap

Jasleen Kaur, a second-year Kwantlen Polytechnic student in business management, says the 20-hour work limit makes it very difficult to secure employment.

"When you have the limitation of 20 hours, the opportunity for jobs is always less, while when you have more than 20 hours to work, the opportunities open up for you as well," she said.

Employers, she added, will often hire someone with more flexibility.

Fortunately, Kaur was able to find a part-time job at Best Buy. But working part-time hours has been a challenge, especially considering the high expenses associated with living in the Lower Mainland.

"Cost of living, the school expenses, travel expenses, everything is so high," said Kaur, who intends to work more hours once the program starts.

The stress of affording all those expenses is all too familiar for first-year University Canada West student Birdaman Singh. The work hours cap, he says, not only impacted him but also his family back in India.

"If we earn more, we'll be able to pay our rent easily. We won't have to get money from our home country," said Singh, adding that he often had to borrow money just to afford his rent.

Singh works at an independent grocery store in Vancouver and is also excited to pick up more work hours.

Navreen Kaur, a director with the not-for-profit organization One Voice Canada, says lifting the cap gives international students the autonomy to choose a school/work balance that best suits them.

"I feel like with this announcement, everyone does have a choice. It's not mandatory that you have to work full time," she said. 

Amid country-wide staffing shortages, the government says the pilot project will help employers tap into a new pool of labour. An estimated 500,000 international students would be eligible for the program.