Université Laval

Work during study

International students on a study permit may work off campus without a separate work permit if they are a full-time student at a designated learning institution (DLI), enrolled in a post-secondary academic, vocational or professional program (or a Quebec secondary-level vocational program) that is at least 6 months long and leads to a degree, diploma or certificate, hold a valid study permit with work conditions printed on it, and have a Social Insurance Number (SIN). During regular school terms or semesters they may work up to 24 hours per week off campus (across more than one job if needed). During scheduled breaks in the school year — such as summer and winter holidays or a reading week — they may work unlimited hours off campus. Working more than 24 hours per week during a term is a violation of study permit conditions.

Post-study work visa

Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) . Up to 3 years
Available to eligible graduates of designated learning institutions (not every institution or program qualifies). Permit length depends on the level and duration of the study program (and the passport's expiry date, whichever is shorter): a program of at least 8 months but under 2 years gets a PGWP up to the same length as the program; a program of 2 years or more gets a PGWP valid for 3 years. Graduates with a bachelor's, master's or doctoral degree face no field-of-study eligibility restriction (a restriction that does apply, since 1 November 2024, to some non-degree college/polytechnic programs), but all applicants now generally need a minimum Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 7 language-test result (CLB 5 for non-university college/polytechnic graduates) unless their PGWP application was submitted before 1 November 2024.

Route to permanent residence

Express Entry's Canadian Experience Class (CEC) is a federal permanent-residence stream for people with qualifying Canadian work experience — the kind of experience a Post-Graduation Work Permit lets a graduate accumulate. To be eligible, the work experience must be paid, gained in Canada while authorized to work, in a National Occupational Classification (NOC) Training/Education/Experience/Responsibilities (TEER) category of 0, 1, 2 or 3, and total at least 1 year of full-time work (or the part-time equivalent — 1,560 hours) within the 3 years before applying. There is no minimum education requirement for the CEC stream itself, and a successful applicant must intend to live outside Quebec, which runs its own skilled-worker selection process.

Route to citizenship

Canadian citizenship is administered by the same department that runs immigration, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). An adult applicant must have been physically present in Canada for at least 1,095 days (3 years) during the 5 years immediately before signing the application; time spent in Canada as a temporary resident or protected person before becoming a permanent resident counts at half value toward this, capped at 365 of the 1,095 days. Applicants must have filed Canadian income taxes, if required to, for at least 3 of those 5 years. Applicants aged 18 to 54 must demonstrate English or French to at least Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) / Niveaux de compétence linguistique canadien (NCLC) level 4, and must pass a citizenship test on the rights and responsibilities of citizens and on Canada's history, geography, government, laws and symbols; applicants 55 and over are exempt from both the language proof and the test. All adult applicants take the oath of citizenship at a ceremony. Canada permits dual and multiple citizenship: on this same page IRCC states plainly that becoming a Canadian citizen does not require giving up another nationality, while flagging that a person's other country of citizenship may not reciprocate that position.

What the government currently prioritises

Express Entry (the federal system covering the Canadian Experience Class, Federal Skilled Worker Program and Federal Skilled Trades Program) periodically runs category-based rounds of invitations that target published categories directly relevant to StudyPath’s fields: 'Healthcare and social services occupations' and 'Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) occupations', alongside separate categories for trade occupations, education, transport, French-language proficiency, and Canadian-experienced physicians, senior managers and researchers. Eligibility for either category requires at least 12 months of work experience within the past 3 years in a single occupation named on IRCC's published table for that round, identified by National Occupational Classification (NOC) code. The STEM table has included, among others, architecture and science managers, cybersecurity specialists, civil/mechanical/electrical-and-electronics/industrial-and-manufacturing engineers, geological engineers, and civil/mechanical/electrical engineering technologists and technicians. The healthcare and social services table has included, among others, specialists in clinical/laboratory medicine and in surgery, general practitioners and family physicians, dentists, optometrists, pharmacists, psychologists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses, nurse practitioners, licensed practical nurses, dental hygienists and dental therapists, medical laboratory and medical radiation technologists, and social workers — and a separate category exists specifically for 'Physicians with Canadian work experience'. Which categories run, and which occupations are listed, is decided round by round and is not guaranteed for any particular occupation.