Working during your studies

“Work” is defined by IRCC as “an activity for which wages are paid or commission is earned, or that competes directly with activities of Canadian citizens or permanent residents in the Canadian labour market.”

Examples of “work” include, but are not limited to:

• a job within a Canadian company
• unpaid employment undertaken for the purpose of obtaining work experience, such as an internship or practicum normally done by a student

Examples of activities that are not considered to be “work” include, but are not limited to:

• volunteer work for which a person would not normally be remunerated (volunteering at a soup kitchen, etc.)
• unremunerated help by a friend or family member
• long distance (over the Internet) work done by a temporary resident whose employer is outside Canada and who is remunerated from outside Canada.

For more information, visit the IRCC page on what “work” is.

Paragraph 186(v) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations allows you to work off campus if you meet the following criteria:

• You have a valid study permit or you have maintained student status (previously called implied status).
• You are enrolled full-time for your study program’s mandatory semesters. The only exception to this rule is for the last academic semester after which you will graduate if you have maintained your full-time student status throughout your study program. Important: If, after withdrawing from one or more courses with or without a refund, you become a part-time student, you immediately lose the right to work during the current semester and during the breaks that follow. Your right to work will resume the first day of the semester for which you are enrolled full-time.
• You are enrolled in a program of more than six months that leads to a degree, diploma, or certificate.
• Nothing on your study permit indicates that you can’t work off campus.

If you are an exchange student, you are allowed to work off campus if you meet the above requirements and if your exchange at Université Laval is for more than six months (two semesters).

You are not authorized to work off campus if you are enrolled:

• in non-degree studies
• in pre-university training
• in a French language learning program (FLE, FLS)
• in a Professional Order Integration Program
• part-time (unless it is your last academic semester after which you will graduate and you have always been enrolled full-time during your study program before).

You are also not allowed to work off campus if you are here as an exchange student for only one semester, even if you have a study permit.

If you meet the requirements, you can work off campus. You usually can’t work more than 20 hours per week off campus during regular academic semesters.

20-hour limit temporarily lifted for certain students.

The off-campus work limit of 20 hours per week is temporarily lifted for some students who are allowed to work off campus.

* Please note that if you renew your study permit, you must be mindful of the date you apply to extend (renew) the study permit. For example, if your study permit expires on March 31, 2024, and you apply to renew your study permit after December 7, 2023, you will be limited to 20 hours of off-campus work per week once your current permit expires on April 1, 2024.

It is still important to remain enrolled full-time for your study program’s mandatory semesters and to make sure that your studies are your main activity. Your studies have to be your priority. If you fail in any of your studies, that could have negative consequences when it comes time to renewing your legal documents. 

To understand your right to work off campus during the summer semester, you have to first find out whether the summer semester is mandatory in your study program. For the study programs in this list, you have to be enrolled for the summer semester. The list is effective as of September 14, 2023. If you start your study program in the summer semester, then that summer semester is also a mandatory semester for you. For more information, contact your faculty’s academic advisors (in French only).

The summer semester isn’t mandatory in your study program

If enrolling for the summer semester isn’t mandatory in your study program, you have to meet all of the following requirements to have the right to work off campus during the summer with no limit to the number of hours worked:

• You were enrolled full-time in the winter semester before
• You intend to enrol full-time in the fall semester (or part-time if the fall semester is your final academic semester after which you will graduate and you have always been enrolled full-time during your study program before).
• The summer semester is not your last academic semester (if it is, see “Right to work off campus during your last semester”).

Enrolling part-time or full-time or not enrolling at all during the summer semester won’t affect your right to work.

For exchange students, if you don’t intend to enrol again for the fall semester at a Canadian educational institution, you can’t work during the summer after your exchange, even if you have a study permit.

The summer semester is mandatory in your study program

If enrolling during the summer semester is mandatory in your study program, the summer semester isn’t an academic break. Usually, you can work no more than 20 hours per week off campus only if you are enrolled full-time for the summer semester (or part-time if it is your final academic semester after which you will graduate and you have always been enrolled full-time during your study program before). 

The off-campus work limit of 20 hours per week is temporarily lifted for some students who are allowed to work off campus.

* Please note that if you renew your study permit, you must be mindful of the date you apply to extend (renew) the study permit. For example, if your study permit expires on March 31, 2024, and you apply to renew your study permit after December 7, 2023, you will be limited to 20 hours of off-campus work per week once your current permit expires on April 1, 2024.

If the mandatory course or educational activity lasts for only part of the summer semester (for example, for only the first half of the semester or for one month), the period during the summer semester when you don’t have your mandatory course or educational activity is considered a scheduled break.

When the summer semester is

See the academic calendar for different years (in French only).

During scheduled academic breaks (reading week, holiday period, and the summer semester, unless the summer semester is a mandatory part of your study program—see details above), you are allowed to work off campus with no limit to the number of hours if you are enrolled full-time before and after the break you want to work (or part-time if it is your final academic semester after which you will graduate and you have always been enrolled full-time during your study program before).

When academic breaks are

See the academic calendar for different years (in French only).

During your last academic semester (the one you will graduate after), you still have the right to work off campus, usually for up to 20 hours per week. This is the case even if you are enrolled part time (as long as you have always been enrolled full-time for your study program’s mandatory semesters before that). Please note that this exception applies to only one final academic semester and that all graduation requirements for your study program must be met by the end of that semester. Those include any language requirements, internships, obtaining all the results (including essay, report or dissertation), the final submission of your thesis, and thesis defence (if applicable).

The off-campus work limit of 20 hours per week is temporarily lifted for some students who are allowed to work off campus.

* Please note that if you renew your study permit, you must be mindful of the date you apply to extend (renew) the study permit. For example, if your study permit expires on March 31, 2024, and you apply to renew your study permit after December 7, 2023, you will be limited to 20 hours of off-campus work per week once your current permit expires on April 1, 2024.

International graduate students who remain in Canada as study permit holders must remain enrolled until the end of their studies and their final graduation. Registration, therefore, is required during the evaluation of an essay, report, dissertation and thesis, and this, until the final submission and defense if required. This also applies if the summer semester is your last academic semester; it effectively becomes a mandatory semester you have to enrol for. This will ensure, among other things, that you continue to:

• comply with Canadian federal and provincial (Québec) immigration requirements
• have the right to work under your study permit
• have health and hospitalization insurance coverage
• have access to library services and the PEPS sports complex

See “International students: Registration for additional semesters after initial submission” on the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (FESP) site.

See the section on Right to work after completing your studies and before getting a post graduation work permit on the post-graduation work permit page to learn about your right to work after you finish your study program.

For information on your right to work after you have entirely completed your program of study, see the Right to work after completing your studies and before getting a post-graduation work permit section of the Applying for post-graduation work permit webpage.

Paragraph 186(f) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations allows you to work on campus if you meet the following criteria:

• You have a valid study permit or you have maintained student status (previously called implied status).
• You are enrolled full-time. The only exception to this rule is for the last academic semester after which you will graduate if you have maintained your full-time student status throughout your study program. Important: If, after withdrawing from one or more courses with or without a refund, you become a part-time student, you immediately lose the right to work during the current semester and during the breaks that follow. Your right to work will resume the first day of the semester for which you are enrolled full-time. 
• Nothing on your study permit indicates that you can't work on campus. 

If you are an exchange student here for one or two semesters, you are also allowed to work on campus for those semesters if you meet the above requirements.

You aren’t allowed to work off campus if you are enrolled part-time (unless it is your last academic semester after which you will graduate and you have always been enrolled full-time during your study program before).

For the right to work on campus, “campus” means any Université Laval building in Québec City. You can work for Université Laval or any other employer if your place of work is exclusively on campus.

Laboratories that are affiliated with Université Laval are considered on campus only if your income comes from a research fund. That is often the case for research assistants.

If you meet the requirements, you can work on campus. With the right to work on campus, there is no limit to the number of hours you are allowed to work. However, as a study-permit holder, your studies have to be your main activity.

Please note that, in addition to following the Canadian immigration rules that apply to your right to work, you also have to follow internal rules specific to Université Laval (collective agreements, etc.).

If you meet the requirements, you can work on campus. To have the right to work on campus under paragraph 186(f), you have to be enrolled full-time for the summer semester (unless the summer semester is your last academic semester after which you will graduate and you have always been enrolled full-time during your study program before). With the right to work on campus, there is no limit to the number of hours you are allowed to work.

You may also have the right to work on campus during the summer under paragraph 186(v). This provision is commonly referred to as the “right to work off campus” provision. If you meet all the requirements for working off campus with no limit to the number of hours during the summer (see details above), you can use this same right to work anywhere in Canada. That includes on campus at Université Laval and in any affiliated laboratories.
 
Please note that, in addition to following the Canadian immigration rules that apply to your right to work, you also have to follow internal rules specific to Université Laval (collective agreements, etc.).
 

During your last academic semester (the one you will graduate after), you still have the right to work on campus without any limit to the number of hours. This is the case even if you are enrolled part-time (as long as you have always been enrolled full-time for your study program’s mandatory semesters before that). Please note that this exception applies to only one final academic semester and that all graduation requirements for your study program must be met by the end of that semester. Those include any language requirements, internships, obtaining all the results (including essay, report or dissertation), the final submission of your thesis, and thesis defence (if applicable).

International graduate students who remain in Canada as study permit holders must remain enrolled until the end of their studies and their final graduation. Registration, therefore, is required during the evaluation of an essay, report, dissertation and thesis, and this, until the final submission and defense if required. This also applies if the summer semester is your last academic semester; it effectively becomes a mandatory semester you have to enrol for. This will ensure, among other things, that you continue to:

• comply with Canadian federal and provincial (Québec) immigration requirements
• have the right to work under your study permit
• have health and hospitalization insurance coverage
• have access to library services and the PEPS sports complex

See “International students: Registration for additional semesters after initial submission” on the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (FESP) site.

See the section on Right to work after completing your studies and before getting a post graduation work permit on the post-graduation work permit page to learn about your right to work after you finish your study program.