24 hours a week 'not enough' for international students working to get by

Student groups on Prince Edward Island say an increase in the number of hours international students will be able to work this fall is a good start, but not necessarily enough to keep up with the cost of living. 

"Students, no matter international or domestic, we do need to work to sustain ourselves," said Divya Daboo, vice president of student life for the UPEI Student Union.

Ottawa waived a 20-hour work cap for international students during the COVID-19 pandemic — allowing them to work full time — but that waiver expired Tuesday.

Starting in September, international students will be able to work off-campus for up to 24 hours per week. The work hours limit will return to 20 per week until then. 

The increase will help students, said Daboo, but "A lot of these [jobs] are minimum wage. And that's definitely not enough for the amount of hours that's being given."

With the waiver now expired, Muriel Kembou, student committee president at Collège de l'Île, said some students will feel a financial pitch. And an increase of four hours in September won't "make a really big difference." 

But it could also encourage students to focus on school, she said.

"It is up to them to be able to balance it — balance the hours they have to work, balance the way they have to study."

There are no limits on the number of hours international students can work when they're not actively enrolled in class, like during the summer.

Announcing the change, federal Immigration Minister Marc Miller reinforced the intention of study permits.

"To be clear, the purpose of the international students program is to study and not to work," Miller said.

'We will feel the impact'

Academically, Sylvain Gagné, president of Collège de l'Île, said the cap of 24 hours makes sense, "If you want to have good marks and you want to have a degree."

But it will influence students who are deciding which country to study in, he said.

"They're going to shop [around]," Gagné said. "They're going to check what's going on in Australia, in Europe, the states."

The new work limit comes as the federal government clamps down on a surge in international student enrolments across the country.

In January, Miller announced a cap on the number of student permits the federal government would issue over the next two years. P.E.I. can bring in 2,000 students under the new policy.

The cap on student numbers and the new rules around working hours will be felt in admissions, Gagné said.

"Put all of those together, and we will feel the impact."