Post-Graduation Work Permit Program (for international students studying for min 8 months in Canada)

If you want to work in Canada after you graduate from your studies, you must apply for a work permit under the Post-Graduation Work Permit Program. (Source:a)

About the program in one snapshot (as extracted from various documents and links mentioned later)

1. Job Offer letter required for applying
2. Job has to be in the field of study
3. Employer doesn't need labour market opinion from Service Canada/Human Resources and Social Development Canada (HRSDC)
4. Apply within 90 days of final mark issue
5. Get a letter of study completion from college or a notification of graduation
6. Have valid student permit at time of application
7. Person can leave Canada with new documents (point need to be checked further)

Post-Graduation Work Permit Program: The Post-Graduation Work Permit Program allows students who have graduated from a participating Canadian post-secondary institution to gain valuable Canadian work experience in their field of studies. This program allows all participants to work up to one year in the Montréal, Toronto or Vancouver areas, and to work up to two years everywhere else in Canada. (Source: a)

A work permit under the Post-Graduation Work Permit Program cannot be valid for a longer period than the length of your studies. For example, if you graduate from a four-year degree program, you could be eligible for a one- or two-year work permit if you meet the criteria. If you graduate from an eight-month certificate program, you would be eligible for a work permit that is valid for no more than eight months.(Source: a)

Who may apply for a work permit of up to one year under this program? (Source: b)

You may apply for a work permit of up to one year if you:

• graduated from a program of full-time study (of at least eight months) at:
  • a public post-secondary institution; or
  • a private post-secondary institution that operates under the same rules and regulations as a public institution, receives at least 50 percent of its financing for its overall operations from government (currently, only private college-level educational institutions in Quebec fit that description); or
  • a Canadian private institution authorized by provincial law to confer degrees.
• have a job offer from an employer for a job that is related to your field of studies;
• have a valid study permit when you apply for the work permit; and
• have not previously been issued a work permit for post-graduation employment following any other course of study.

 

Working after graduation—How to apply (Source:c)

If you want to work after completing your studies in Canada, you must apply for a post-graduation work permit, if you meet all of the eligibility requirements.

There are five steps to apply for the post-graduation work permit:

1. Obtain an application kit
2. Read the guide.
3. Complete the application form and attach the necessary documents.
4. Pay the fee and get the necessary receipt.
5. Mail the application form and documents.

 

What is required in the job offer letter? (Source: d)

This letter must be an original letter on company letterhead and must contain the following:

1. Job title & job description (the job must be related to the student’s field of studies)
2. The education, skills and experiences required for the job
3. Start date of employment
4. Salary and other job benefits
5. Average number of hours of work per week
6. Address of the location of employment where student will be working

 

Sources:

(a) http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/study/work-postgrad.asp

(b) Applying for a Work Permit - Student Guide:

http://www.cic.gc.ca/ENGLISH/pdf/kits/guides/5580E.PDF

(c) http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/study/work-postgrad-how.asp

(d) http://www.sds.uwo.ca/int/documents/postgrad_employer.pdf

 

Other Useful links:

• http://www.cic.gc.ca/ENGLISH/information/applications/work-students.asp
• http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/en/workplaceskills/foreign_workers/intstugrad.shtml
• http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/applications/extend-worker.asp
• http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/information/medical/medexams-temp.asp
• http://www.canadaworkpermit.com/faq/general.html

Disclaimer: The post just has information collected from different links. Certain information and procedures mentioned here might change with time and the blog-author takes no responsibility for any consequence emerging out of the information presented and if it is out-dated.

FAQ-Canadian MBA or US MBA?

Nicholas Hoy of Canadian business online presents an answer to the most sought after FAQ: How do Canadian Business Schools stand against US Business Schools?

The following are some excerpts from the article.

.....

Schools with the best reputations don't necessarily offer the best educations, but the brand recognition of any graduate program — and particularly in the high stakes competition among business schools — is a major determinant of a student's future employment prospects. Go to Wharton or Harvard or Stanford, the logic goes, and doors will be opened. Attend Rotman or Ivey or Schulich, and you'll have to push the doors open yourself. Even Canadian business schools admit that getting noticed by recruiters can be more difficult north of the border. "We are able to place our students in all the top companies — but our students may have to work a little harder to generate and close the opportunity," acknowledges Jim Fisher, Associate Dean, MBA Programs at Toronto's Joseph L. Rotman School of Management. Wiser points specifically to the strong alumni networks and recruitment possibilities at Stanford — and indeed stories of intense battles among recruiters for talented students are legion at elite American business schools

.....

One key benefit is that recruiters often perceive elite American schools more favorably than elite Canadian schools; Stanford GSB grads like Wiser and Stark can expect enhanced future earnings by virtue of the institution they chose to attend. "I think the decision on where to do an MBA is too important a life decision to base on financial reasons," says Stark. "If you can gain admission to a top U.S. school, you can make it work financially."

....

Prospective MBAs elect to enroll in a specific program in part because they plan on finding employment wherever that program is located. And MBA students who weren't planning on working where they were schooled often find that the most comprehensive recruiting and alumni links are just around the corner. Prospective MBAs, therefore, had better approach the decision of which school to attend as a broader decision — and a bellwether moment — that could define their future career paths........An MBA from Rotman or Ivey will have strong brand recognition in Toronto, but it will have far less global cachet than an MBA from Harvard. Canadians who are lost to elite American MBA programs are often lost forever.

....

But although location is — and should be — a compelling factor on which prospective MBAs base their decisions, students and administrators alike suggest that the qualities of the program are more important than the school's location.

....

The best advice: "talk to as many students and alumni as possible at the schools you're considering," suggests Killingsworth.

....

The most accomplished prospective MBAs face a tough decision whether to attend school in the U.S. or to stay in Canada. It is the responsibility of top Canadian business schools to make this decision even tougher.

 

Read the entire article here

QSB Dean answers

Erin Pooley of Canadian Business magazine interviewed Queen's School of Business dean, David Saunders and the same featured in the October 22,2007 issue of the magazine. The following are some questions and key points out of the interview.

The Canadian economy is on a roll. Jobs are aplenty. Is an MBA still worth it?

An MBA is like an annuity. It's an investment, and the return on that investment is 12% to 20%, on average. Think about going to the bank and making an investment. Why on earth wouldn't you if you knew you could increase your salary that much?....

What about the flow of MBA students in and out of Canada?

More Canadians are going to business schools in the United States on scholarship as a result of changes in U.S. visa requirements, which have stopped students from other countries going. On the flip side, Canadian schools do not have the same visa restrictions, and we're now getting more applications from certain countries....

What's one of the biggest challenges for MBA schools moving forward?

How to teach the next generation of students. Whoever figures this one out first is going to have a leg up. They grew up with Facebook, the iPod and the BlackBerry. The challenge isn't really the tools, it's how to use those to further education....

Other Questions:

What are some of the biggest changes you've seen in business education in Canada over the past five to 10 years?

What's the next big trend in business education?

 

Catch the entire interview here

NOW PR queries! ah!

IELTS=Yes
Police Clearance Certificate=Yes (more on this later)
Ref Link: http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/pr-card/index.html

Case of availing 2 education loans for 1 course

Question:
Not being able to take a loan from 2 diff banks for the same course, why is this a problem?

Answer: (Courtesy NK)
While applying for an educational loan, in the student educational loan form there is an undertaking which we have to sign. It explicitly states that ¡§I have not taken any other loan for funding this course. That makes it impossible to apply for more than one loan for the same course. Had it been allowed otherwise then everyone would take loans worth 5 lakhs from four different banks. This way we would save a lot of money also, since the interest rate charged increases proportionately with the loan amount. The only other option is to give a false undertaking i.e sign that part of the form and still take loan from some other bank. How ever I would strongly advice against it as there is every possibility of this matter coming to the banks notice. Under such a situation the undertaking is considered "fraud" and the offender is liable to be tried under law.

Work Permit Query & PR Query

I had my Ivey’s interview yesterday and at the start of the interview only, the interviewer told me some thing which made me speechless for sometime. She was a Relationship Manager and involved with companies at Ivey’s for career management.

She told me that we need to have a work permit apart from Study permit to be able to work in Canada after your study. In case you don’t have that the companies will be reluctant to take you or create some problems. So she advised me to start the process of getting a work permit/PR/Landed Immigrant status along with the Study permit. What I knew was that Study visa gives you a work permit of approx 1 year to work after your studies have finished. She told me that this is true but not one yr but a very small time, so work permit is very much required.

I told interviewer that Embassy gives Study permit after being sure that the person is coming back to the home country. If I start my process of work permit, I will not get my study permit. She says she doesn’t know how embassy works and I need to check on it.

What needs to be checked is -

• for point 1 (it will be definitely true as she is involved in this process and hence know about this), what is to be done.
• If one would like to work in US if not just after but some years after the MBA, what is that he needs to do now.