International students

Can I hire an international student who has graduated from a post-secondary institution in Alberta, to work as a temporary foreign worker?

Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s Post-Graduation Work Permit program is designed to provide graduating international students in Canada an opportunity to gain work experience in their field of study. Under this program students may work in Canada for up to two years after graduation. A work permit under the Post-Graduation Work Permit Program cannot be valid for a longer period than the length of their studies.

To be eligible for a post-graduation work permit, international students must have graduated from public or certain private post-secondary institutions, and have a job offer related to their field of study. They must have studied in a full-time program in duration of at least eight months prior to graduating.

Work permits for students graduating from a four-year program can be issued for a maximum of two years. Students graduating from an eight-month program can get work permits valid for a maximum of eight months.

Graduates from institutions located outside of Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver with job offers from outside these three cities can apply for a two-year work permit. Graduates from Montréal, Toronto and Vancouver can apply for a one-year work permit.

As an employer, you need to decide if the Post-Graduation Work Permit Program would be your best choice in hiring skilled workers. You can decide that by learning about the process required to be completed in order to hire international graduates. The following are the steps in that process:

Step 1: Offer of employment to an international graduate

If you know an international student who has graduated from a Canadian post-secondary institution and you would like to offer him/her a job, you must provide a job offer in writing for a position related to his/her field of study.

Step 2: The graduate submits a work permit application

If the international student accepts your offer, he/she has to mail a work permit application to the CIC Case Processing Centre in Vegreville, Alberta. The graduate must do this within 90 days of receiving a written confirmation that they have completed their post-secondary program. Once the international graduate receives the work permit, he/she can begin working for your company.

Step 3: Extending an offer of employment

If you want to extend the job offer to the international graduate beyond the two-year limit, you must obtain the Service Canada’s Labour Market Opinion by submitting an application for a Temporary Foreign Worker – Labour Market Opinion and follow the process explained under the “Engineer” scenario on this site as it applies to all skilled foreign workers.

What do I do if I want to permanently keep my international graduates?

After the international graduate has worked at your company for six months, you can offer them permanent employment and nominate them through the Alberta Immigrant Nominee Program (AINP) for permanent resident status. This Canada - Alberta program facilitates a fast-tracked process in obtaining a permanent resident status in Canada for international graduates.

Date Updated: Mar 20, 2009
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