Skip to main content

Doing an internship for credit as part of your Université Laval study program

Questions?

Student Life Office
418 656-2765
Workshops and Conferences
Student Advising

If you are doing an internship as part of your study program, you may need to get a work permit through the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) co-op work permit program.

Under Canadian immigration rules, student internships, even when unpaid, are considered work and require a work permit.

Students registered full-time at Université Laval who hold a valid study permit are allowed to:

  • Work on campus with no limit to the number of hours.
  • Work off campus 20 hours per week during regular academic semesters and full time during academic breaks. Between November 15, 2022, and December 31, 2023, the 20-hour-per-week limit on off-campus work is lifted temporarily for some students. Thus, students allowed to work off campus AND who hold a valid study permit that has been applied for or renewed with Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) no later than October 7, 2022 are not limited as to the number of hours of work off campus during this period. If you applied for your current study permit after October 7, 2022, whether it is an initial study permit or an extension, you remain limited to 20-hours-per-week of off-campus work. See the IRCC website for complete details.

See the section on Working during your studies for more information.

You do not need a work permit to do an internship if your internship falls within the right-to-work limits of your study permit and if you meet all the following conditions:

  • You meet all the right-to-work conditions for people with a study permit.
  • Usually, you do not work more than 20 hours per week off campus during regular academic semesters (this work includes your internship work and any other off-campus employment, if applicable). Between November 15, 2022, and December 31, 2023, the 20-hour-per-week limit on off-campus work is lifted temporarily for some students. Thus, students allowed to work off campus AND who hold a valid study permit that has been applied for or renewed with Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) no later than October 7, 2022 are not limited as to the number of hours of work off campus during this period. If you applied for your current study permit after October 7, 2022, whether it is an initial study permit or an extension, you remain limited to 20-hours-per-week of off-campus work. See the IRCC website for complete details.
  • You have a study permit that indicates that you have the right to work off campus (if not, see the page on Getting a social insurance number (SIN)).

However, if your internship is mandatory and you want your internship time to one day be counted towards an application for the Certificat de sélection du Québec (CSQ – Québec selection certificate) through the Programme de l’expérience québécoise (PEQ – Québec experience program) for graduates, you still need to have a work permit unless you are doing your internship while taking advantage of the IRCC’s temporary lifting of the limitation on working off-campus between November 15, 2022, and December 31, 2023.

Presentations
The Bureau de la vie étudiante – BVE (Student Life Office) regularly offers presentations about this. See their website for details.

The Immigration section of this website is intended to provide general information on current procedures, which may change at any time without notice. The laws and regulations in force in Québec and Canada, as well as the websites of Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration [Québec’s ministry of immigration, francisation, and integration] (MIFI) and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), take precedence over this page.

Last updated on: 2023-03-24