How much international students can earn in Canada part-time
Earning a living can be difficult for international students, but there are many ways to earn an income. International students can earn a lot of money in Canada. In this article, we will discuss how much money an international student can make in Canada part-time.
How old do you have to be to work as an international student in Canada?
You can work in Canada as long as you have a study visa and the minimum age to apply for a study visa is 18. If you have been accepted by the Canadian Designated Learning Institute, you are eligible to work part-time.
However, as long as you have been able to get your study visa even if you are not up to 18 perhaps through your parents or guardian, you can work and earn part-time in Canada.
Working in Canada as an international student is not so related to your age. Even if you are a minor or under the age of 18, you have already fulfilled the requirement to work through the process of applying for and securing a study visa in Canada.
However, when you get to Canada, the rules and laws may vary in the different provinces so you may want to check with a lawyer or the employer to be sure you’re doing the right thing. You don’t want to go against the laws so you don’t have your study visa pulled.
If you are 16 and have just graduated from high school, you require a study permit and proof of funds for tuition and living costs plus your family will have to undertake a process to identify a custodian in Canada who is a PR or citizen to assume responsibility for you before you can get a study permit or visa.
Only then can you be able to work as an international student in Canada.
Once you turn 18, you no longer need a custodian in Canada to study or work as an international student in Canada.
How long can an international student work while studying in Canada?
International students are allowed to work for 20 hours per week in session and 40 hours per week during holidays. International students are required to stick to this duration to avoid going against Canadian law.
This does not apply to Canadian students or permanent residents as they can work for as long as they want during and after sessions.
Most holidays fall in summer. However, if you’re taking classes during summer, you’re limited to 20 hours a week while you can work unlimited hours if you’re not taking classes. You should check well to ensure that there are no scheduled classes even during summer breaks.
For some courses or students, there are scheduled classes during this period even though they may not be as much as in-session courses. It depends on the program you are enrolled in, for engineering that is not the case. Therefore, one can work an unlimited number of hours in summer.
While a study permit gives you 20 hours to work off-campus during school sessions and full time during the holidays, you can work as long as you want on campus. This means that if you are not working in the school, you are allowed to work for only at most 20 hours and not a minute more.
This can be a good thing for you as an international student as it allows you to dedicate more time to your studies.
Someone worked on campus for around 30 hours per week and simultaneously 20 hours off-campus. This means you can work at both places at the same as long as you don’t exceed the 20 hours off-campus limit.
Sometimes, you may have to pay attention to how your employer computes your hours weekly so you don’t exceed the limit when computed. An international full-time student works 16 hours this week and 16 next week. Her job schedules work week is from Sunday to Saturday.
However, she has an issue with what is considered the start of the week, because if they count from Sunday (how her workplace does it) it is below 20 but if they start from another day it will go over 20.
To be on the safer side, try not to work over 15 or 16 hours so you don’t even get a chance of going over the limit (20 hours per week). One student said they always try to not work over 15 hours per week and that has helped them not go beyond the 20 hours in any way.
Another thing that is important to note is that you have to be a full-time student to work as an international student in Canada. If you are a part-time student, you are not permitted to work.
What jobs can international students do in Canada?
The types of jobs that an international student can do in Canada depend on the skills that you have and the ones you’re qualified for. However, if you don’t have technical skills you can get jobs that don’t require technical know-how as long as you have a work permit.
If you have technical skills, you can find remote jobs according to the skills you can offer the company or employer. However, most international students often find jobs that do not require many skills such as attendants, servers, receptionists, cleaners, and carers among many others.
You only need an orientation from the employer on how the job is to be done before you start.
Some students also get jobs as graduate or research assistants in their school. I once contacted a school to ask about their graduate assistantship and they told me that I will need to have gotten admission to the school before I can apply for a graduate or teaching assistantship which has a limited number of spots.
You can apply to work as a graduate or research assistant in your school where you are paid per hour. If you work here, this means you are working on campus so you can exceed the stated 20 hours per week limit.
For a high possibility of getting jobs, you can try working more on your resume. If you don’t have enough experience to put on your resume, you can start working on campus to get some experience before looking for jobs off-campus.
An international student studying and working in Canada said that working on campus helped them get some relevant experience.
Grocery stores are also easy places to get a job as an international student. If you speak good English then you should have better chances of getting a job there.
It is advisable to go into the store in person and hand your resume or application form over to them.
When you do walk-ins, some stores will interview on the spot. You can also look out for companies that host hiring events. You can get an on-spot interview if you go in person and hand over your resume.
Companies like Toy’s R Us, Party City, and Petsmart do hiring events so you can check them out.
Someone also suggested trying out security companies. You can work as a night-shift security guard if you’re up for it so you can get time for your homework or study.
They said their security guard loves the job as there is almost no activity for him to do and he gets plenty of time to do his homework and study.
What is the average pay for each?
The average pay you get working as an international student depends on the region where you work and the minimum wage per hour.
If you study and work in Ontario, the minimum wage is $15.50 so you won’t get lesser than this amount per hour.
You can get up to $15 per hour depending on your skills or what the employer is willing to offer. In Newfoundland, the minimum wage is $13.20 so you won’t get lesser than this amount per house as an international student.
Most international students working as an attendant or receptionist can get up to $14 depending on the city and the minimum wage as mentioned earlier. Cleaners can also get up to $17 per hour depending on their employer’s offer.
Student or graduate assistants can earn up to $19 per hour in Canada and you can also work more than 20 hours per week since this is on-campus. If you are really good academically, you can tutor students on campus to earn some extra cash.
However, international students don’t earn enough to be able to settle huge expenses like their tuition. You may be able to cover a part of their tuition and living expenses.
Before going to Canada, you will still have to show that you have enough money to take care of your living expenses and tuition.
So working in Canada as an international student does not exempt you from getting funds to cover your tuition or living expenses before coming going there.
