The minister was warned that restricting the work of international students could disrupt the program

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OTTAWA — Allowing international students to work more than 20 hours a week could distract them from their studies and undermine the purpose of temporary foreign worker programs, public officials warned the federal government in 2022.

The warning was contained in documents prepared for former immigration minister Sean Fraser as Ottawa considered scrapping a cap on the number of hours international students could work off-campus — a policy eventually introduced by the Liberals.

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The Canadian Press has received internal documents with an access to information request.

Abandoning the cabinet could help ease labor shortages, a memo to the minister was denied, but it could have other unintended consequences.

“While temporarily increasing the number of hours international students can work off-campus will help address this shortfall, it may cause international students to focus more on work than their primary educational goals, bypass temporary foreign worker programs, and emerge. raising concerns about the integrity of the program with the international student program,” the memorandum says.

Canada's international student program has come under scrutiny in recent months as part of a larger critique of liberal immigration policies that have fueled rapid population growth and contributed to the country's housing crisis.

That scrutiny led the federal government to impose limits on study permits over the next two years as it tries to overhaul the program.

More than 900,000 foreign students received visas to study in Canada last year, more than triple the number 10 years ago.

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Critics have questioned the sharp rise in enrollment of international students at shadow post-secondary institutions and expressed concern that the program is a back door to permanent residency.

The memo says removing the off-campus work restriction would be “in stark contrast” to temporary foreign worker programs, which require employers to prove they need a migrant worker and that there are no Canadians or permanent residents available to fill the job.

Fraser finally announced in October 2022 that the federal government would lift the cap by the end of 2023 to ease labor shortages across the country.

The waiver only applies to students who are currently in the country or applying to work in Canada, so as not to discourage foreign nationals from applying for a study permit.

In December, Immigration Minister Mark Miller extended the policy until April 30, 2024 and floated the idea of ​​a 30-hour week limit after that.

In an interview with The Canadian Press on Monday, Miller said he extended the opt-out period because he didn't want to interfere with students' routines in the middle of the school year.

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“What I really didn't want to do was affect students who were making financial statements about how they're going to live this year and how they're going to be able to pay for tuition, rent and food,” Miller said.

According to Miller, the department's internal work shows that more than 80 percent of international students currently work more than 20 hours a week.

Given Canada's labor shortage, cutting the hours international students can work was the right decision, but the policy should never be permanent, he said.

Vacancies rose by more than a million in the second quarter of 2022, but have since fallen steadily as the economy has slowed.

Miller said he is now considering a permanent change to the 20- to 40-hour-a-week cap.

“It's hard to believe that someone can work 40 hours and do a proper program,” Miller said.

The goal, he said, is to come up with a cap that allows students to get good work experience and help pay bills without disrupting their studies.

“What does a reasonable number of hours look like for someone studying here, knowing that they are paying 3-4 times, sometimes five times the price of a domestic student?” Miller said.

“I think it's over 20 hours.”

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