Canada has made a significant change to its Postgraduate Work Permit (PGWP) rules for international students wishing to study in Canada in the fall of 2020.
Within the fall of 2020, international students can now enroll in online courses while staying in their country and still be eligible for a PGWP permit after moving to Canada.
PGWP permit enables foreign students to gain Canadian work experience within a specified Canadian institution (DLI) for three years after completing their education program.
In normal conditions, online courses are not accepted by a PGWP client. However, because of the ongoing Coronavirus-related travel restrictions worldwide, Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has decided to count online courses to the study requirement for a PGWP application.
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This means that new international students can start online courses at a Canadian DLI in the fall of 2020, complete half of their educational program from their country of residence, and obtain PGWP permission to work in Canada once their studies have been completed.
Get A Work Permit in Canada 2020
As long as foreign students transfer to Canada before the end of 2020, they will be eligible to apply for a PGWP permit for the full three years. IRCC will subtract time after December 31 from the PGWP license for the duration students spent outside Canada.
This significant move has been made by Canada to allow foreign students to pursue their post-secondary education rather than to postpone it due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic.
While the students will still pay tuition fees after this rule change, they will save a lot of money by not being physically present for their education in Canada.
The move would eventually benefit the Canadian economy, as foreign student tuition fees would help fund thousands of jobs across Canada in colleges and universities.