Last verified: August 29, 2026 · Official source: canada.ca — Work off campus
General information, not legal or immigration advice. For advice on your situation, consult a licensed RCIC or immigration lawyer.
The quick answer
If you hold a valid study permit that authorizes off-campus work and you meet every eligibility requirement, you can:
- Work up to 24 hours per week off campus during regular class sessions
- Work unlimited hours off campus during scheduled breaks set by your DLI
- Work on campus with no hour cap
⚠️ Always confirm the conditions actually printed on your own study permit. What follows reflects standard conditions; yours may differ.
Off-campus work: 24 hours per week during class sessions
During regular class sessions you may work up to 24 hours per week for an employer other than your school. "Off campus" means any employer that is not your school.
You cannot work before your studies begin. Your program has to have started.
Off-campus eligibility requirements
IRCC requires all of the following:
- You are a full-time student at a designated learning institution (DLI)
- You have already started your program
- You are enrolled in a post-secondary academic, vocational or professional training program (or a secondary-level vocational training program in Quebec)
- You have a valid study permit, or you applied to extend it before it expired
- Your program is at least 6 months long and leads to a degree, diploma or certificate
- Your initial study permit has conditions printed on it that allow off-campus work
- You have a social insurance number (SIN)
When you cannot work
- Your study permit says you are not authorized to work off campus
- You are only enrolled in an English or French as a second language (ESL/FSL) program
- You are only taking general interest courses
- You are only taking courses required to be accepted into another program
- Your situation changes and you no longer meet one of the requirements
Scheduled breaks: no hour limit
During a break scheduled by your DLI — summer and winter holidays, a reading week — you can work unlimited hours off campus. Taking courses part-time or full-time during the break does not change this.
If your program has no scheduled breaks, the 24 hours per week cap applies throughout.
⚠️ You cannot work during an authorized leave. Not off campus and not on campus. The same applies if you are switching schools and are not currently studying.
On-campus work: no hour cap
There is no limit on on-campus hours, during class sessions or during breaks.
Your employer can be the school, a faculty member, a student organization, a private business physically located on campus, a private contractor providing on-campus services to the school, or your own business run physically on campus.
If your school has several campuses, you can generally only work at the campus where you study. The exception is teaching or research assistant work funded by a research grant, which may take place at a library, hospital or research facility affiliated with your school (hospital work requires a medical exam).
Final-semester exception: if you study part-time in your final semester to finish your required coursework, you keep your on-campus work rights, provided you studied full time in every earlier semester.
You must stop working on campus when you stop studying full time (outside the final-semester exception), when your study permit expires, while you are on an authorized leave, or while you are switching schools and not studying.
Co-op and internships: what changed on April 1, 2026
This is the biggest change on this page.
As of April 1, 2026, post-secondary international students no longer need a co-op work permit for a student work placement such as a co-op or an internship. If you already hold a co-op work permit, you can keep using it for its entire validity. Secondary-level students still need a co-op work permit.
To take part in a work placement as a post-secondary student, you need all of the following:
- Your initial study permit has conditions printed on it that allow on-campus work
- A letter from your DLI confirming that the placement is a requirement of your program
- A valid study permit, or an application to extend it filed before it expired
- Enrolment as a full-time student in a post-secondary program at a DLI
- A placement that totals 50 percent or less of your program
There is no weekly hour limit on a work placement. The placement simply cannot exceed 50 percent of your program.
Language courses, general interest courses, courses preparing you for another program, and courses at an institution outside Canada do not qualify.
IRCC has stated that this change does not widen the pool of students authorized to work. A step was removed; eligibility was not expanded.
After your program ends
After you graduate, you can work unlimited hours while you wait for a decision if all of the following are true:
- You were eligible to work off campus during your studies
- You applied for a work permit or a PGWP before your study permit expired
- You are waiting for a decision
Between programs, you can also work unlimited hours if you meet every condition. You need written confirmation from your school that you completed your previous program and a letter of acceptance to a new full-time program at a DLI, and you must start the new program within 150 days of receiving that confirmation.
What happens if you go over
IRCC is blunt about it: working more than 24 hours per week is a violation of your study permit conditions. You can lose your student status for it, and you may not be approved for a study or work permit in the future.
And you are responsible for tracking your hours and proving that you complied. That holds for self-employed students too. Keep your pay stubs and your schedules.
Why this matters for your future PR
Every hour of eligible Canadian work experience you build while studying counts toward permanent residence.
- The Canadian Experience Class (CEC) under Express Entry requires 1 year of skilled work experience in Canada gained within the last 3 years. Work on a study permit counts.
- Skilled work means experience in NOCNOC: National Occupational Classification — Canada's system for classifying jobs. For CEC, your work must be in a TEER 0, 1, 2, 3 occupation. TEER 0, 1, 2, 3 occupations. It does not mean office work only.
- After graduating, a PGWPPGWP: Post-Graduation Work Permit lets you work anywhere in Canada after graduation, giving you time to build the experience Express Entry and the CEC require. gives you up to 3 more years to build that experience.
Summary table
| Situation | Authorized hours |
|---|---|
| Regular class session · off campus | 24 hours per week |
| Scheduled break · off campus | No hour limit |
| Program with no scheduled breaks · off campus | 24 hours per week |
| On campus | No hour cap |
| Student work placement (co-op, internship) | No hour limit, 50 percent or less of the program |
| During an authorized leave | No work permitted |
→ Study Permit Conditions — the full set of conditions that keep your status → Choosing a PGWP-Eligible School and Program — protect your PGWP eligibility → Study → PR Pathway Map — how work experience connects to PR
General information, not legal or immigration advice. Rules change, so always confirm current requirements at canada.ca.