Working while you study in Canada: hours, conditions and the ways students lose status

The right to work is on your permit, not in the rule. Students read that off-campus work is permitted, take a job, and never check whether their own study permit carries the condition that authorises it. If it does not, the hour limits are beside the point, because the work was unauthorised from the first shift.

That is the single most expensive misunderstanding in this area, and it is the one worth clearing up before any discussion of hours. Read your permit. The conditions are printed on it.

The conditions that make work lawful

IRCC sets the same core requirements for both on-campus and off-campus work. You must be a full-time student at a designated learning institution, enrolled in a post-secondary academic, vocational or professional training programme, or a secondary-level vocational training programme offered in Quebec. You must hold a valid study permit, or have applied to extend it before it expired. Your study permit must carry conditions saying you may work. And you must have a social insurance number.

Off-campus work adds one more: the programme must be at least six months long and lead to a degree, diploma or certificate.

There is also a start date, and it is not the date you land. IRCC states that "You can only start working in Canada when you start your study program. You can't work before your studies begin." Arriving three weeks early and taking a job for those weeks is unauthorised work, however small the job is.

On campus

On-campus work is the more generous of the two and the less used. IRCC defines on campus as all the buildings on your school campus, and if your institution has several campuses you can in most cases only work at the one where you are studying.

The employer can be the school itself, a faculty member, a student organisation, a private business or a private contractor providing services on campus. It can also be you, if you run a business that is physically located on campus.

There is no limit on on-campus hours, during terms or during scheduled breaks. That is the part most students do not know. A research assistantship, a library shift or a job in a campus cafe does not count against the off-campus hour limit, because the limit applies off campus.

Off campus, during classes and during breaks

The off-campus limit has changed more than once in recent years, so check it rather than trusting what a classmate told you. The current rule is stated by IRCC as follows.

You can work up to 24 hours per week. You can work more than 1 job to make up these hours as long as you continue to meet the conditions of your study permit.

IRCC, Work off campus as an international student

Twenty-four hours is a ceiling across all jobs combined, not per employer. Two employers who each see you for sixteen hours are not each seeing a compliant student. Nobody is going to add it up for you, and the responsibility sits with you.

During breaks that your institution has scheduled, such as summer, winter or a reading week, you may work unlimited hours off campus, and you may take a part-time course load or a full-time one during the break without affecting that. The word doing the work is scheduled. A break your school has published in its academic calendar is a scheduled break. A gap you create by dropping to part time, or a term you sit out, is not.

Co-op placements and internships

This changed recently and in the applicant's favour. As of 1 April 2026, post-secondary international students no longer need a co-op work permit for student work placements such as co-op placements, internships, practicums and mentorship programmes. Secondary school students still need a co-op work permit.

The conditions have not gone away, they have simply moved onto the study permit. To take part in a placement as a post-secondary student you need work conditions on your study permit, a letter confirming the placement is required by your programme, a valid study permit or an extension applied for before expiry, and full-time enrolment in a post-secondary academic, vocational or professional programme. The placement must also make up 50 per cent or less of your total study time.

You must stop the placement when your study permit expires, or when you stop studying full time, unless you are in your final semester and still meet the other requirements.

When you must stop working

Authorisation to work is tied to being a student, so it ends when that ends. Stop working if you stop studying full time, other than in a final semester where you still meet the other conditions, if your study permit expires, if you take an authorised leave from your studies, or if you change schools and are not currently studying.

The leave rule is the one that surprises people, and IRCC puts it plainly: "You can't work on or off campus during an authorized leave from your study program, even if your study permit says you're allowed to work in Canada." A student taking a medical leave or a term away for a family emergency keeps the permit and loses the work right for the duration.

The conditions underneath all of this

Work permission sits on top of the study permit conditions, and if those slip, the work permission slips with them. As a study permit holder you must be enrolled at a designated learning institution unless exempt, actively pursue your studies, apply to extend your study permit in order to change post-secondary schools, end your studies if you no longer meet the requirements of being a student, and leave Canada when your permit expires.

Actively pursuing studies means being enrolled full time or part time in each academic semester, excluding regularly scheduled breaks, making progress towards completing your programme's courses, and not taking authorised leave of more than 150 days from your programme.

Changing schools deserves its own sentence, because students still move first and file later. You must apply for and be approved for a new study permit before you move to a new post-secondary institution. Enrolling elsewhere and sorting the paperwork out afterwards is a compliance problem that will surface in your next application.

What happens if you breach

If IRCC finds that you have not met your study permit conditions, it can ask you for documents, and it can ask you to leave Canada. Losing student status is the immediate consequence. The longer one is that a record of non-compliance travels with you into every application you make afterwards, including extensions, work permits and permanent residence.

If you think you have already breached, do not quietly carry on and hope the next application is looked at kindly. Get the position assessed. Some situations can be restored or explained, and the difference usually depends on how quickly you act.

How many hours can I work off campus while classes are in session?

Up to 24 hours per week. That is a combined total across every job, not a limit per employer. During breaks your institution has scheduled, such as summer or winter break, you may work unlimited hours off campus.

Do on-campus hours count towards the 24-hour limit?

No. IRCC sets no limit on on-campus work hours, during terms or during scheduled breaks. The 24-hour rule applies to off-campus work. You still need work conditions on your study permit and full-time enrolment to work on campus at all.

Can I work before my programme starts?

No. IRCC states that you can only start working when you start your study programme, and that you cannot work before your studies begin. Arriving early and taking a short job in the interim is unauthorised work.

Do I still need a co-op work permit for an internship?

Not if you are a post-secondary student. As of 1 April 2026, post-secondary international students do not need a co-op work permit for student work placements such as co-op terms, internships, practicums and mentorship programmes. Secondary school students still do. You will still need a letter confirming the placement is required by your programme, and the placement must be 50 per cent or less of your total study time.

Can I work during a leave from my studies?

No. IRCC is explicit that you cannot work on or off campus during an authorised leave from your study programme, even if your study permit says you are allowed to work in Canada. Authorised leave is also limited to 150 days if you are to remain considered as actively pursuing your studies.

What happens if I worked more hours than I was allowed?

IRCC says you can lose your student status, may not be approved for a study or work permit in the future, and may have to leave the country. It is not something to resolve by hoping it is not noticed. Get the situation assessed by a licensed adviser before your next application, because the next application is where it surfaces.

If your permit does not show the work conditions you expected, or you are worried that a job or a leave of absence has put your status at risk, have it looked at before it reaches your next application. Book a consultation

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