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Foreign student Buri Sen remembers being flooded with joy and relief when he realized his future in Canada no longer hinged on him nailing an engineering job within three months of completing his master’s degree this August.
Word of his improved fortunes landed in an e-mail from the University of Windsor’s foreign student centre. It said the federal government had ditched a longstanding requirement that foreign students get a job in their field of study within 90 days of graduating or leave the country.
“It’s a huge gift,” Sen declared over the phone from Windsor where he is completing his degree.
Sen, who arrived in Canada last August from China, says the government’s change of heart has breathed life into what he had come to think of as his dying dream of staying in Canada because of his weak grasp of English and lack of work experience.
The new rules allow foreign students to get post-graduate permits to work in Canada for up to three years – depending on how long they studied here – without first having to get a job. The previous maximum was two years. Also gone is the requirement that the job be in the student’s field of study.
The rule change, announced in late April, barely registered with most Canadians. But it was big news in the international student community and for those trying to lure more foreign students to this country.
It’s the latest plank in the Conservative government’s bid to revamp immigration policy to target and attract foreigners needed to fill current and anticipated job gaps in Canada.
“Our ability to retain international graduates with Canadian qualifications, work experience and familiarity with Canadian society will help increase our competitiveness and benefit Canada as a whole,” Immigration Minister Diane Finley said when announcing the changes.
Darcy Rollins, director of international education for the Manitoba government, said the change gets rid of “ridiculous requirements” that turned off potential foreign students that he sees as “A-1 candidates” for immigration. After all, many Canadian students would have trouble finding a job in their field of study within 90 days of completing their post-graduate degrees, he said.
The latest change builds on a popular 2004 reform that ended the ban on foreign students working off campus. The number taking advantage of the change soared to 17,000 last year, up from 1,200 in 2005. There are more than 64,000 international students in Canada.Rollins said providing foreign graduate students with an expanded opportunity to work and immigrate will make Canada a more attractive destination for them.
He also said targeting graduate students is less controversial than going into foreign countries and recruiting doctors and other skilled people to fill specific labour needs in Canada.
Besides, foreign graduates have a better chance of fitting in here, he said as he rhymed off their advantages. They have Canadian credentials. They have the language. They probably have labour market experience because they now are allowed to work off campus while studying. They may already have job offers. And, they probably have ties to the community.
Mehdi Dashtban, an Iranian who graduated this spring from the University of Calgary with a specialty in molecular biology, says he is seeking the new open work permit as the next step in his quest to immigrate.
“I want to be a Canadian,” said Dashtban, who has been here since 2004. “I do not want to go back to Iran right now. I have two kids. One was born in Canada. I want them to grow up in a safe country where there are not problems.
“There are no separate figures on how many foreign graduates have applied for the $150 permits since the April rule change, but government figures show the number of applications received between Jan. 1 and May 31 was 5,700, easily outpacing the number received during the same period in previous years.
Sen, who goes by the nickname Rocky, said he had been figuring for months he would be sent packing back to China soon after he graduated.He couldn’t imagine anyone hiring him for an engineering job before the old three-month deadline expired.
After less than a year in Canada, the 24 year old admits he is struggling with the English language and Canadian customs. He also said his course work was so intense he did not have time for a part-time job, something that would have helped solve those problems.The new rules give Sen one year – which matches the length of time he studied in Canada – to land a job, any job. “That’s much better,” Sen said.
Foreign grads give an A to easing of work permit rules
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