Working While Studying in Canada: Rules and Regulations
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Year of Publication: 2020
Let's first state the fact and IRCC rules on work-permit in Canada.
On-Campus:
You are allowed to work for unlimited hours year round.
Off-Campus:
If you have permit (not all have permits, like ESL or Foundation Course Students), you can work 20 hours/week in an active semester.
You can work unlimited hours during scheduled breaks or during summer break.
Please NOTE your institute must declare the scheduled break timelines and you program must have a summer break.
Official Link: www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/study-canada/work/work-off-campus.html#hours
Question: I heard that students can earn 5000$/month working for Uber Eats and Skip the Dishes. Is this true?
Answer: Undergrad or Course-based students can work unlimited hours during summer breaks or scheduled breaks. Thesis-based students can work unlimited hours during scheduled breaks. If they have a proper license, and if they can find work, someone might earn that amount. But you need to ask them a basic question, what's the tax amount on that? Do they pay tax?
Question: Students can work the year around without any work hour limitations and earn 5000$/month so its 60,000$ per year income. Is this true?
Answer: Any student working more than 20 hours/week during school year are violating study permit rules. If you work 20 hours and earn 5000$ per month (pay tax or not), it's 85 hours per month which leads to 58.82 $/hour of income. Many full-time and long time workers do not earn that much money. The rest you can guess what they do.
Question: There are no hour limitations in Uber Eats or Skip the Dishes. International students can work any number of hours who delivery. Is this true?
Answer: They app can count your hours and if IRCC/CRA wants to get information on your hours, it is not very difficult for them to find out how many hours you are working. A genuine tax consultant will advice you to maintain a sheet (Log Book) of hours/worked/earned for future CRA audits.
Question: But these jobs do not need SIN number; how will they find out how much I worked as they do not provide any T4?
Answer: Sales tax has been taken out and the money goes to a bank. It's not difficult to track where the money comes from.
CRA is has their own techniques.
Question: Many Deshi students do that. Nothing happened. Why should I care?
Answer:
You are violating study permit rules. What can happen if you break study permit conditions are clearly mentioned in the below image:
Many deshi students do that. Nothing happened. Are you sure about this?
Here are some articles for you to read:
International student arrested, facing deportation for working too many hours
Link: https://globalnews.ca/news/5269138/international-student-arrested-facing-deportation-work-permit
In 2018, 5,502 study permits were revoked, up from 1,538 in 2016. In the first two months of 2019 alone, 1,048 study permits
were cancelled.
“A lot of kids, including a lot from India, are coming here, and there is a structured, systematic racketeering operation going
on to bring them here knowing full well a) they’re not students and b) they’re never going to study,” said Boraks. “It’s a heavy
duty scam operation. And they are destined to become illegal workers.”
Student visas can be quickly revoked, she said, as non-citizens in Canada can be removed without a criminal charge or conviction.
Meanwhile, Indo-Canadians concentrated in Greater Toronto and Metro Vancouver have been holding public meetings to complain about how many students from India are skipping classes to work longer hours in Canada than they are permitted, leading to the Times of India running the headline: “Indo-Canadians say international students ’stealing their jobs.’
Question: I work for Uber Eats and Skip the dishes. Taxes have already been paid or I do not need to pay taxes. Is this true?
Answer: Whoever works for Uber Eats and Skip the Dishes are independent workers. They cut sales tax/HST/GST on the product.
Your income is your responsibility to report. They do NOT automatically pay your income tax.
Many students do not report these income as they know it is a violation of 20 hours/week work rule of study permit. While doing this they are violating study permit rules and committing tax fraud. Tax information are necessary till you become citizen (and beyond) and if a fraud gets detected at any stage, your future PR/Citizenship application will be at risk.
Uber Tax Submission Link: https://www.uber.com/ca/en/drive/tax-information
Skip The Dishes FAQ: https://promo.skipthedishes.com/tax-faqs
Tax Tips from HR Block: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRZ9aujzV-4
Question: I do not pay taxes. Who cares?
Answer: Actually, no one. It's your life your choice.
Question: I heard that I can study for two semesters and then take 1 semester off to work full time. Or I can study one semester and then work for two semester. Is this true.
Answer: No, it is not true. You are only allowed to work full-time during summer breaks (if your program permits) or scheduled breaks.
You can take a leave of absence (approved by the institute) or you can leave your studies from one institution for another one (in that case, you have 150 days to enroll a new program). But you are NOT allowed to do any works (including part-time) during this time period (both for approved leave and leaving a program).
Links:
"Students had no idea what 'actively pursue' meant or what the consequences were until these program delivery instructions occurred six years after the compliance regime was put in place," he noted.
Don’t be a fool, stay in school
The rules for study permit compliance are being interpreted in an increasingly strict manner. International students need to understand the importance of actively working towards the completion of studies, and taking their education in Canada seriously. As the above cases show, the consequences of failing to actively study are severe. To quote Van Wilder, “don’t be a fool (and get deported), stay in school.”
Question: My friend told me to come to Canada as soon as I get the visa and then defer for 1 semester and then work full-time in that semester. Is that true?
Answer: If you have not started your program or not actively pursuing studies, you are NOT allowed to any work, even part-time.
