Students are risking their education and permits to study in Canada by working more than their 20-hour legal limit.

Many of Humber College’s and the University of Guelph-Humber’s international students are putting their education and permits to study in Canada at risk by working more than the 20 hours per week as permitted by the Canadian law, says Jaspal Singh, an immigration expert for Premier Immigration.

There are currently about 3800 international students at Humber College and about 1200 at the University of Guelph-Humber. According to Rosy Kaur, another immigration expert for Premier Immigration, international students applying to study in Canada need to show enough proof of funds for their entire degree/diploma. The approximate fee for international students per semester ranges from about $7000 to $11000 at Humber the GH which is three times the tuition fee for a Canadian citizen.

To help defray living expenses, Canadian law allows people in Canada on a study permit to work a maximum of 20 hours per week. As suggested by Singh, this limit is for the betterment of the students, to allow them to concentrate on academics and also as a safety concern for someone they don’t have past records of.

Singh also said that he acknowledges the fact that many students do not find these working hours to be enough to be able to pay for their living expenses. “I earn about $700 net of taxes per month, out of which $550 is my rent and $100 for my bus pass. How do I spend a whole month with $50 in hand?” said Sandeep Goyat, a second-year Humber college international student. “Neither my family nor did I know that there was a limit to the number of hours I was allowed to work before I moved to Canada. My parents aren’t well educated and so I was not guided well. They now expect me to pay at least part of my fee myself, as they were not prepared for a situation of this sort. They could manage to show the required funds initially which included their property. Now that I am not allowed to work as much, do I let them sell part of our family property or work over the limit? I have no choice,” said Sanmeet Mahal, an international student at Humber College who has been consistently working over the limit for the past two years. Another international student Shivam Taneja says “I did not know that I am not allowed to work more than 20 hours per week. I have been in Canada for three years now and have constantly been working for about 40 hours a week. I am worried about the consequences I might have to face knowing that working over 20hours a week is a crime.”

Singh said that this is very risky for students who are discovered to be working more than 20 hours/week. They may have to face strict penalties like getting deported or their passports could also get tagged leading to a ban on them entering several countries. Kaur says that the international students who are either currently working more than the legal limit or having trouble making ends meet should contact a lawyer to figure out the best possible way out for them. Students can also contact the Financial Services department and look for any sort of scholarships that they can apply to or request the Canadian Immigration for complete information on the restrictions on international students, to avoid getting into any other legal issues in the future.