Canadian immigration paves way for international students

January 30 2009 by Gareth McConnell

In a bid to encourage foreign students and recent graduates to travel and work in Canada, the Canadian High Commission has loosened the regulations on the open work authorisation visa, available for international students on the post-graduate work permit.

The Canadian visa allows working holidays to be taken for up to 12 months and can now be taken several times during students’ study period, for up to a year after graduation.

The rules allow students or recent graduates, aged 18 to 30, to take long working summers in Canada and is similar to the Youth Mobility Scheme in the UK.

Graduates can also choose to take a gap year in the country, even if they have already used a work visa during their studies and even better it's not restricted to any particular region or industry.

International students can apply for the Canadian visa through the post-graduate work permit program, which says that casual work is very easy to find in Canada and that study-related work can also be found with a little more perseverance.

Liam Clifford, director of globalvisas.com, highlights the attractiveness of Canadian student visas in the current climate, “Since we returned from the Christmas break there’s been an evident surge in the number of students expressing an interest in Canada. The government in Canada has created a product that's proving very popular in the university circuit and given the current prospects for students in the UK, temptation is complimenting design, we are happy to help.”

“There were 63,673 international students in Canada in 2007, that figure looks like it will be smashed in 2008 and if the beginning of 2009 is anything to go by, it looks like it will be another record,” he finished.

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