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International students who have a valid study permit and are enrolled full-time have the right to work on and off campus in accordance with certain rules established by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

New students enrolled at Université Laval may start working on the first day of their first semester. This means that, if you arrive a few weeks before classes start, you won’t be able to start working until your study program officially begins (an exception to this is if you were already a student in Canada at another educational institution during the previous semester).

If you plan to work or do internships with certain clients (children, the elderly, etc.) or in certain settings (elementary and secondary schools, daycares, health care settings, clinical laboratories, hospitals, etc.), you will need a medical exam. If you didn’t have an IRCC-recognized medical exam, you will likely have a remark on your study permit prohibiting you from doing these types of jobs. If you don’t want to have these restrictions, you have to have a medical exam before applying for a study permit or apply to change your study permit ($150) once you have completed the exam.

There are no legal restrictions preventing students from combining off-campus work with on-campus work. However, as a study-permit holder, your studies have to be your main activity.

Your employer and you must check whether you are authorized to work. Working without the proper authorization can lead to the loss of your student status and study permit and may even result in you having to leave Canada. It may also negatively affect any future immigration applications you make. For example, any future study or work permit applications you make may be refused.

To get paid, you first have to have a social insurance number (SIN). For instructions on how to get one, see the section on Getting a social insurance number (SIN).

Presentations
The Bureau de la vie étudiante – BVE (Student Life Office) regularly offers presentations about this. See their website for details.

Right to work off campus

Right to work on campus

The Immigration section of this website is intended to provide general information on current procedures, which may change at any time without notice. The laws and regulations in force in Québec and Canada, as well as the websites of Ministère de l’Immigration, de la Francisation et de l’Intégration [Québec’s ministry of immigration, francisation, and integration] (MIFI) and Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), take precedence over this page.

Last updated on: 2024-08-27