Canada Post-Graduate Work Permit

The Canadian Post-Graduate Work Permit allows international students who have graduated from an eligible program at a post-secondary institution to experience working in Canada.

In Canada, the Canadian Post Graduate Work Permit is intended as a direct route to apply for permanent residence through the Canadian Experience Class visa.

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Benefits

Applying for a Post Graduate Work Permit visa offers international students no restrictions on the type of employment you seek and no job offer needs to be in place. The program extends your opportunity to gain valuable Canadian work experience, an important factor when applying for Canadian citizenship through the Canadian Experience Class program.

To be eligible to apply for the Canadian Experience Class program you will need a minimum of one year of work experience in Canada in managerial, professional or technical positions, at level 0, A or B under the National Occupational Classification system.

Eligibility

International students applying for the Post Graduate Work Permit must have studied full-time for eight months preceding the completion of their program of studies and graduated from a public post-secondary institution, such as a college, university or CEGEP (in Quebec); or a private post-secondary institution that operates under the same rules and regulations as public institutions. The private school has to receive at least 50 percent of its financing for its overall operations from government grants (currently, only private college-level educational institutions in Quebec qualify). Alternatively, international students from a private Canadian institution authorized by provincial or territorial statute to confer degrees also qualify.

International students must apply for a Post Graduate Work Permit within 90 days of receiving written confirmation that they have met the minimum requirements at the institution they have been studying. The Canadian study visa must also be valid when they apply for the Canadian Post Graduate work permit.

One point to worth remembering is, if your study course lasted less than two years but longer than eight months, you are still eligible for the Post-Graduate Work Permit, however, the work permit visa must be longer than your period of study.

Duration

The Post Graduate Work Permit visa has been extended to three years across all of Canada. At the end of the three years, as long as you have amassed one years employment experience in managerial, professional or technical position you can apply for permanent residence in Canada through the Canadian Experience Class.

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