Close X
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
ADVT 
National

New international grad work permit program opens

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 27 Jan, 2021 07:06 PM
  • New international grad work permit program opens

A new work-permit program aimed at encouraging international students to settle in Canada opened for applications Wednesday.

The federal government announced the program this month after international students argued the pandemic had disrupted the job market, making it hard to gain work experience required to apply for permanent residency before their permits expired.

Immigration Minister Marco Mendicino said the new permit offers people more time to find work in Canada after graduating from post-secondary studies.

Former students with post-graduation work permits that have expired or will soon expire can now apply for open work permits, he said.

Under the new program, people have 18 more months to stay in the country to look for work.

The federal department estimates that about 52,000 graduates could benefit.

Post-graduation work permits allow international graduates to gain work experience in “skilled” Canadian jobs and later apply for permanent residence in the country.

Sarom Rho, who leads a migrant student campaign with Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, said the change is a major win for the thousands of people who feared potential deportation once their non-renewable permits expired.

"This is a massive change and it's absolutely a step in the right direction," Rho said in an interview.

"However, there are many who are still left behind."

Some people whose permits were near expiring have already left the country and can't apply under the new rules, Rho said, or they went home to visit their families and have been unable to return due to travel restrictions.

Others whose permits are set to expire after November 2021 are also ineligible to apply, Rho said.

Rho's group, Migrant Students United, also wants Ottawa to consider hours worked in essential jobs unrelated to graduates' programs of study towards their permanent residency applications.

 

MORE National ARTICLES

Airlines call out 'confusion' around testing rules

Airlines call out 'confusion' around testing rules
Air Transat vice-president Christophe Hennebelle says Ottawa announced the requirement, which takes effect this Thursday, "out of the blue" without any prior consultation or notice to industry.

Airlines call out 'confusion' around testing rules

Court appearance for teens accused in cop's death

Court appearance for teens accused in cop's death
Sgt. Andrew Harnett had pulled over an SUV and was hit and dragged on the road when the vehicle took off.

Court appearance for teens accused in cop's death

Man struck by three vehicles in Abbotsford, B.C

Man struck by three vehicles in Abbotsford, B.C
Officers responded to a collision on Highway 1 near the boundary between Abbotsford and Langley, B.C., early Sunday morning.

Man struck by three vehicles in Abbotsford, B.C

Canadian polar bear swims to ring in 2021 with pandemic-friendly charity events

Canadian polar bear swims to ring in 2021 with pandemic-friendly charity events
Organizers of “polar swims” across the country are inviting people to participate in COVID-friendly dips with backyard adaptations or physically distanced events.

Canadian polar bear swims to ring in 2021 with pandemic-friendly charity events

First Canadian babies of 2021 born as the clock struck midnight

First Canadian babies of 2021 born as the clock struck midnight
A baby born in a Montreal hospital may have been the first Canadian newborn of 2021. The Maisonneuve-Rosemont hospital said Friday that a boy named Arthur was born precisely at midnight.

First Canadian babies of 2021 born as the clock struck midnight

A new year renews concerns for hospitals grappling with COVID-19, experts warn

A new year renews concerns for hospitals grappling with COVID-19, experts warn
Patients in multiple Canadian hotspots are flooding hospitals at an alarming rate and expected to arrive in even greater numbers in the weeks to come, doctors and health centres said Friday.

A new year renews concerns for hospitals grappling with COVID-19, experts warn