This guest article was authored by Fanni Csaba, Associate, Ronalee Carey Law.
This is the story of three brilliant, but misinformed international students whose chances of becoming Canadian permanent residents were lost. Please note that these stories are based on real experiences, but the details have been changed to protect the clients’ privacy.
Kazumi earned a two-year-long Canadian diploma in fashion design. He applied for his Post-Graduate Work Permit (PGWP) right after he finished his program. For a few months afterwards, he worked at a fancy clothing store. Then, he heard the great news that he was accepted into an impressive Italian fashion design program. Without hesitation, he flew to Milan. Wanting to eventually live in Canada, he returned to look for a job, which he found. Unfortunately, his post-graduate work permit expired within a few months, so he had to return home to Japan without the opportunity to apply for permanent residence.
Yamini came to Canada to study computer programming. She was a genius with computers. After school finished, Yamini applied for a PGWP. Shortly after, she set up her own small business, working as a freelance computer programmer. She made great money and was ready to set up her life here in Canada. When she applied for permanent residence, she found her self-employed work experience did not count for points under the Express Entry system.
Nuria studied journalism in Canada and earned a four-year-long undergraduate degree. During her summer breaks, she went home to Spain to be with her family. She applied for a three-year-long PGWP after she finished school. Her first two years were spent working at a coffee shop and growing her writing portfolio. In her third year, she landed an unpaid internship at a local newspaper. She was happy to get this great experience and hoped to work there as a staff journalist in the future. Unfortunately, she had to return home at the end of the three-year period without being able to apply for permanent residence. She did not have any qualifying work experience to apply for permanent residency in Canada.
What do all these international students have in common? They wasted their opportunities to use their PGWPs in ways that would allow them to successfully apply for permanent residence.
What is a PGWP?
International students who study in Canada at Designated Learning Institutions have the opportunity to apply for Post-Graduate Work Permits. PGWPs are open work permits that allow graduates to work in any job. PGWPs are generally issued for the same length of time as the programs of studies, up to a maximum of 3 years. However, if the duration of the programs of studies are two years or longer, the duration of the work permits will be three years. If an applicant is hoping to eventually apply for permanent residence, choosing a program of study that is at least two years in length is recommended to maximize the amount of time the PGWP can be valid for.
Why is the PGWP a fantastic opportunity?
Most of Canada’s skilled worker admissions for permanent residence are done through the Express Entry (EE) application management system.
To get into the EE pool, applicants must first qualify under one of the three programs leading into EE: the Federal Skilled Worker Program (FSWP), the Federal Skilled Trades Program (FSTP), or the Canadian Experience Class (CEC).
The FSWP and CEC require that applicants have at least one year of work experience. Continuously and within the last ten years for the FSWP, and cumulatively and within the last three years for the CEC program. For the FSTP, it must be two years within the last five years.
To find out whether a job’s skill level is appropriate, applicants must determine what the job’s NOC Code is, and then see what level has been assigned to it by the Canadian government. To be considered ‘skilled work’, the job must be in a skill level A, B, or 0. Here is the website where applicants can look up NOC Codes and their corresponding skill levels.
When applicants look at the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) criteria, they will see that more points are awarded to those who have Canadian work experience. Having Canadian work experience very often makes the difference between having a high enough score to be invited to apply for permanent residence versus having to return home.
For those who have not studied in Canada, applying to work in Canada temporarily can be very difficult. With the exceptions of some programs such as International Experience Canada, obtaining a work permit normally requires finding an employer who is willing to go through a lengthy application process on the applicants’ behalf. This may also include having to advertise the job position to Canadians first.
This is where PGWPs come into play. They give international students the opportunity to get Canadian work experience in the appropriate skill level, so that they can eventually apply for permanent residence.
A PGWP is literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It can only be applied for one time, and the application must be made within 180 days of finishing a program of studies. If a graduated student doesn’t apply for it, or doesn’t use it while it was valid, then the student has squandered a great opportunity to obtain skilled Canadian work experience.
So, what could our misinformed students have done differently in the above scenarios?
Kazumi, our fashion designer, could have deferred his Italian degree to stay in Canada for as long as it took to get at least one year of Canadian work experience in a job the appropriate skill level. While it was great that he studied at an impressive Italian school, when he returned, there was simply not enough time left in his work permit to gain the required one-year of work experience.
Yamini, while a business savvy computer programmer, didn’t know that self-employed work done in Canada does not count as qualifying work experience. She could have tried to find a job where she was an employee. Once she became a permanent resident, she could have opened her business as planned.
Nuria, the aspiring journalist, had trouble finding a job right out of school, since she had an empty resume. She could have interned at the local newspaper and expanded her writing portfolio during school. Instead of spending all her summers in Spain, she could have stayed here to gain the work experience she needed to be able to land a ‘skilled’ job as soon as possible after finishing her degree. Employers would have been more likely to hire her immediately if she already had previous work experience and internships. Even working at the coffee shop during school could have helped make her more employable, since the future employer could have seen that she was a great worker.
The bad news is that the above students were out of luck. When advising international students, take the time to impress on them the importance of using the PGWP to position themselves to qualify for permanent residence. It is also important to counsel them on the upcoming change to the 2021 version of the NOC later in 2022. International graduates need to verify their new NOC code and Training, Education, Experience and Responsibilities (TEER) level once Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) formally adopt the 2021 version of the National Occupational Classification system. At this time, a preliminary equivalency table between the current NOC hierarchy and the new 2021 NOC version is found here.
International graduates must plan and determine whether the jobs they work in while employed on their PGWP remain eligible under a new modified Express Entry system once IRCC integrates the new TEER model adopted in the 2021 version of the NOC. It is expected that NOC B occupations will be most impacted by the change to the NOC hierarchy. This means that from now on, international graduates need to make decisions that ensure they don’t waste what could prove to be their golden ticket to Canadian permanent residence: the PGWP.