Study. ThenWork.The 24-hour rule, and the PGWP.
You can work while you study and, often, for years after. But there are caps, conditions and a permit you only get once. Here is the honest version.
Work is aprivilege, with rules.
Yes, you can work in Canada as a student, up to 24 hours a week during term, and often for years after you graduate on a Post-Graduation Work Permit. For many families that is the whole appeal.
But the hours are capped, the timing is strict, and the PGWP is not automatic. It depends on your program, your level, a language test and rules that changed sharply in 2024 and 2025. You get one PGWP in your lifetime, and no one can promise you permanent residence after it. We help you keep the door open; we never pretend it is guaranteed.
The 24-hour rule.
What you can and cannot do on a study permit. Tap each one.
Up to 24 hours a week
During academic terms you may work up to 24 hours per week off campus. You can hold more than one job, but the total cannot pass 24 hours.
Going over 24 hours breaks your permit conditions. It can cost you your status, a future permit, even your PGWP.
Unlimited, with conditions
During scheduled breaks set out in your school calendar, such as summer or winter, you can work unlimited hours, if you were enrolled full time before and after.
A break must run at least seven days, and full-time break work is capped at 180 days across the year.
On-campus work too
If you are a full-time student at an eligible school, you can also work on campus, for the school, a faculty, a student group or some on-site businesses.
You still need a valid study permit with work conditions and a Social Insurance Number to be paid.
Only after you start
You cannot work until your study program has actually begun, even if your weekly hours would be fine. Working before day one is a breach.
If you transfer schools, sort out the right permit first. Gaps and early starts are common, avoidable mistakes.
Staying onside
Stay full time, track your hours, and keep meeting your permit conditions. Schools now report on enrolment, so compliance is watched closely.
Work rule breaches do not just risk a fine, they can quietly end your PGWP and PR hopes before they start.
Twenty four.
A week has 168 hours. During term, you can sell 24 of them. Flip between term and break to see it.
While classes are running you can work up to 24 hours a week off campus. Take two jobs if you want, the total still cannot cross 24.
During a scheduled break, summer or winter, you can work unlimited hours, as long as you were full time before and after it.
The PGWP.
The Post-Graduation Work Permit is the prize most students come for. Six things to fix in your mind about it.
An open work permit
It lets you work for almost any employer, almost anywhere in Canada. You are not tied to one job.
One per lifetime
You get a single PGWP, ever. There is no second chance, so the program you pick really matters.
Length matches study
If eligible, it generally lasts as long as your program, up to three years, for programs of at least eight months.
Apply within 180 days
Once you have proof you completed your program, you have 180 days to apply, and you apply online.
Builds experience
Skilled Canadian work on a PGWP may count toward future permanent residence. May, not will.
Work while you wait
In many cases you can keep working while a complete, on-time PGWP application is being processed.
It depends on what you study.
Since 2024, your program decides your PGWP, not just your grades. Tap your path.
Bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees have no field-of-study restriction. You still need a language test at roughly CLB 7, about IELTS 6 in each band.
If you applied for your study permit on or after November 2024, a college diploma or certificate must be in an eligible field of study to lead to a PGWP. Language is roughly CLB 5, about IELTS 5. The eligible list changes, so the program you pick is the decision.
A master's of at least eight months can earn a three-year PGWP regardless of how long it runs. With no field limit, it is the strongest position of all.
Public-private partnership college programs, language or ESL-only programs, and some distance learning do not lead to a PGWP. This is the single most expensive mistake students make.
Since November 2024 a language test is required for everyone. Book it in your final semester, because admission scores expire. We are an authorised ETS test center and a British Council IELTS center.
The eligible-fields list changes, sometimes mid-year. Treat this as a guide and let us confirm your exact program against the current rules before you enrol.
How long you get.
A PGWP, when you are eligible, broadly tracks your program length, up to a three-year ceiling. Master's is the exception that beats the rest.
This is the shape, not a promise. Length depends on your program, your completion and IRCC's decision. A master's can reach the full three years even when the program itself is shorter.
The catch.
The work and PGWP rules reward planning and punish guesswork. Six things that quietly cost people their permit.
Program is a decision
Your program now decides your PGWP. Pick the wrong one and no work permit follows, however good your grades.
The list moves
Eligible college fields changed mid-2025 and are under review again. Never rely on an old list; confirm before you enrol.
Scores expire
A language test taken for admission can be invalid by graduation. Plan to test again in your final semester.
You get one shot
One PGWP per lifetime. There is no redo, so the first choice has to be the right one.
Compliance is silent
Overworking, or going part time at the wrong moment, can void your PGWP eligibility with no warning.
PR is never promised
A PGWP can build experience that may help a future PR application. Anyone who guarantees PR is not being honest.
Study, work, then?
From the program you choose to the work that may, one day, support permanent residence. The order matters.
Choose wisely
Pick a program and school that keep a PGWP on the table. This is where it is won or lost.
Study and work 24h
Study full time and work up to 24 hours a week, more on scheduled breaks.
Get proof you finished
Your school confirms completion. Your 180-day PGWP window starts here.
Apply for the PGWP
Submit online with your language test. Miss the window or the test and the chance is gone.
Work in Canada
Build skilled Canadian work experience on an open permit, for up to three years.
A path to PR
That experience may support a future permanent residence application. It is a path, not a promise.
Tap to bust it.
The costly beliefs about working in Canada. Six, flipped.
We protect your shot.
You only get one PGWP. We help make sure your choices early on do not quietly throw it away.
Pick a PGWP-safe program
We steer you toward programs and schools that keep a work permit on the table, and away from the ones that quietly do not.
Get the language score
We prepare and test you as an authorised ETS center and British Council IELTS center, so your CLB score is ready when it counts.
Stay onside and on time
We help you keep inside the 24-hour rule and hit the 180-day PGWP window, the two places people slip.
We plan the work and PGWP into your study choice from day one. What we will never do is promise you a permit or PR, because no honest adviser can.
Work, asked.
Q1How many hours can I work as a student?
Q2What exactly is the PGWP?
Q3Does every program qualify for a PGWP?
Q4Do I need a language test?
Q5How long does the PGWP last?
Q6Will a PGWP get me permanent residence?
Q7Can I work before classes start?
Make workwork.
Tell us what you want to study. We will map it against the work and PGWP rules and steer you toward a choice that keeps your options open.