Canadian government removes barriers for international students working in essential services to fight COVID-19

To help battle the COVID-19 outbreak, starting immediately, the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will remove the restriction that allows international students to work a maximum of 20 hours per week while classes are in session, provided they are working in an essential service or function, such as health care, critical infrastructure, or the supply of food or other critical goods. This temporary rule change will be in place until August 31, 2020. This temporary rule change provides health-care facilities with access to additional well-trained workers at a time when they are badly needed. As per the 2017-2018 Statistics Canada report, there were more than 11,000 international students enrolled in health-care programs at Canada’s universities and colleges, representing about 4% of health-care students at that time.

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