On-Campus Work

As an international student, you are able to work on campus without a work permit while completing your studies if:

• You have a valid study permit.
• You are a full-time student at a post-secondary public school (college or university, or CEGEP in Quebec), or at a private college-level school in Quebec that operates under the same rules as public schools and is at least 50% funded by government grants, or at a Canadian private school that can legally award degrees under provincial law.
• You have a Social Insurance Number.

On-Campus Work: Student work without a Work Permit in Canada

Full-time, post-secondary students may work without a work permit on the campus of the school at which they study. The work permit exemption is valid as long as the student continues to hold a valid study permit and continues to study at the school.

The exemption also applies to students who are working as teaching assistants or research assistants.

“On-campus work” is defined as work at a location within the boundaries of a post-secondary school campus. Students are only allowed to work on the campus of the school at which they are registered in full-time studies. If a school has more than one campus, the student can work at locations on those campuses as long as the campuses are within the same city. If an institution has campuses in different cities, the student can only work on the campus where he/she is registered as a full-time student.

Students may also work off campus and still be exempt from the work permit requirement if the place at which they work has a formal connection with the school at which they are enrolled.

In order to work in Canada, all students need a Social Insurance Number. To apply for a Social Insurance Number for the purposes of on-campus employment, a student must have a study permit and an employment contract.