International students struggle to find work in Canada to support themselves. Their income is often insufficient to cover their expenses. Explanations.
According to the Canadian Bureau for International Education, international students choose to study in Canada for the quality of the education system and the reputation of a tolerant and safe society. But another key factor is in favor of the country: the fact of being able to work during the studies at the rate of twenty hours per week. “If you are authorized to work off campus”, precise the Government of Canada, and full-time between class sessions.
But is it enough?
An international student support group, One Voice Canada Alberta, entrusts to the CBC that many of them settled in Calgary, Alberta, are struggling to find employment. “They don’t even reach the interview stage, says spokesperson for the organization, Reyme Kaur. However, they have rent to pay, groceries, public transport, clothes ”. Mme Kaur explains to the network that “Many jobs that international students might count on in the past are increasingly difficult to find since the Covid”.
A student withholding her name told the network: “I have never seen such drastic changes in my life. You cannot imagine the situation as an international student. I am unemployed and have been depressed. ”
Low-paying jobs
Study International signals that the part-time jobs occupied by foreign students, often paid at the minimum wage, varying in the provinces of the country between the equivalent of 7.97 and 11.14 euros per hour, are not sufficient to cover the costs and expenses incurred. Especially since they have to pay taxes, specifies the site which adds:
It is generally recommended that students be over 10 000 Canadian dollars [6 964 euros], which they must present as part of their visa application, as the rent can cost up to $ 8,400 [5 849 euros] per year – and that doesn’t include everything else. ”
A budding journalist who will graduate from Carleton University in journalism and law in April 2022 reminds on the site Capital Current that, due to her international student status and the requirements of Canadian citizenship or permanent residence, she has not “Could apply for beneficial positions that might have led to employment following graduation”. Tuvana Sahinturk ajoute: “I had to work as a volunteer in addition to my part-time job and my full-time studies in order to have something to put on my CV”.
An unfair system?
A study from the Statistics Canada agency noted by the Toronto Star revealed last year that “International students earn less than their Canadian peers following graduation because they fail to gain sufficient local work experience before graduation”. The study thus underlined:
Fewer years of pre-graduation work experience and lower pre-graduation pay levels among international students explained most of their disadvantage in terms of employment. pay following graduation. ”
“Without the implementation of better policies that give confidence and care to international students, Canada’s relations with those like me will continue to suffer”, conclut Tuvana Sahinturk.
Martin Gauthier
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Launched in April 2016 and intended for French expatriates and candidates for expatriation, Courrier Expat offers information drawn from the international press on the professional and personal environment of French people living abroad, on the
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