Canada updates list of study programs that qualify international students for work permits

Further tightening:

To better align immigrant selection with Canada’s labour market needs, Ottawa is refining what academic programs are going to qualify international students for the coveted postgraduation work permit.

The Immigration Department has updated its eligibility list, adding 119 new fields of study and removing 178 others based on jobs with long-term shortages. A total of 920 coded programs remain eligible.

The Liberal government has been criticized for the soaring number of international students, who had increasingly used the international education program to come and work in Canada in order to ultimately earn permanent residence in the country.

Many international students enrolled in general programs at institutions that former immigration minister Marc Miller called “diploma mills,” studying in subjects that had no relevance to what’s needed in the labour market.

Last November, the Immigration Department started requiring international students in nondegree programs (programs other than bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degrees) to complete a program in an eligible field of study to qualify for the postgraduation work permit.

As part of the plan to improve the integrity of the international education system, Miller not only capped the number of study permits issued, but also restricted the access to postgraduation work permits, which could be valid for up to three years and provided the incentive for people to study in Canada.

“It is not the intention of this program to have sham commerce degrees and business degrees that are sitting on top of a massage parlour,” Miller told reporters at a news conference last year. “This is something we need to rein in.” 

According to CIC News, an online media outlet on Canadian immigration, the additional qualifying programs cover health care and social services, education and trades.

However, it said, many of the agricultural and agri-food programs such as farm management and crop production were removed from the list, along with Indigenous education, student counselling and personnel services, environmental studies, building/property maintenance, drywall installation, solar energy technology, airframe mechanics and aircraft maintenance technology, among others.

The Immigration Department says students who applied for a study permit before June 25, 2025, will still be eligible for postgraduation work permits if their field of study was on the list when they applied for their study permit even if it has since been removed.

Source: Canada updates list of study programs that qualify international students for work permits