International students now eligible to work after studies at Canadian career colleges

New CIC rules include more work and immigration pathways for international students

As we reported earlier this month, revised CIC regulations that will come into full effect in June 2014 carry some important implications for international students in Canada. Specifically:

• Only students enrolled at designated institutions in Canada will now be able to apply for a study permit that is, an international student visa. (Replacing the allowance that they could apply for a study permit upon acceptance at any institution in Canada.)
• Eligible students will be permitted to work full-time after graduation until a decision is made on their post-graduation work permit. (Replacing the rule that they could not work until the post-graduation work permit was awarded.)

These, and other new CIC rules affecting the delivery of international education, are designed to protect international students; tighten up regulations regarding the kind of student allowed to study and work in Canada; and increase the opportunities for the most serious, ambitious students to work in Canada and potentially immigrate. (For more on the new CIC regulations, please review our earlier report.)

Career colleges on level playing field

In the following video segment, Mr Gerencser explains that the CIC changes should usher in a new era for Canada's career colleges. He notes that as long as a career college is designated to receive international students, its international students like those at approved community colleges and universities can be eligible for a work permit allowing them to work in Canada for up to three years. After that, such students might then apply to immigrate under the Canadian Experience Class if they want to remain in Canada.

Mr Gerencser explains that to date, there have been very few international students at Canada's roughly 1,500 career colleges, at least in part because employment and immigration prospects for international students at these colleges have been so restricted. Now, because of CIC new work permit rules, he says career colleges will be able to provide excellent opportunities for the following types of international student:

• Those wanting in-demand career training in Canada who then want to immediately go back to their home countries to pursue careers;
• Those wanting such training as well as work experience in Canada, who eventually plan to return to their home countries;
• Those who would like to apply to immigrate to Canada.

The increasing importance of career colleges

Canada is not the only country that is recognising the increasing need for specific career training. In major markets around the world, there are growing gaps between the education students receive and positions in the labour market.

For example, BBC News reports that the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) conducted a survey of 91,000 employers which found that more than one in five vacancies were down to a poor skills base. The survey report stated that 146,200 job vacancies (22%) last year were unfilled because of inadequate skills, compared with 91,400 (16%) two years earlier.

A labour market mismatch between skills and education can also be found in India, where University World News reports that the Labour Ministry Youth Employment-Unemployment Scenario 2012/13, released last November, found that 1 in 3 graduates aged 29 and under are unemployed. Another report, the British Council Higher Education in South Asia 2013 found that the largest pool of graduates in India is generalists with broad socio-economic knowledge but no specific technical skills.

In France, where youth unemployment is a big problem, there are several ongoing initiatives to rethink education and curriculum. One such initiative, known as 42, is a new school for software developers that its founders describe as a response to an educational system that is no longer capable of training the talent that is required by companies in the new technologies field.

And the US Obama administration has heavily publicised its new funding (US $2 billion over four years) earmarked for community colleges and Career and Technical Education institutions (CTE). The US Department of Education says about effective CTE schooling:

"[Their graduates] are positioned to become the country's next leaders and entrepreneurs. And they are empowered to pursue future schooling and training as their educational and career needs evolve"

The Canadian government setting of provincially designated career colleges on the same footing as community colleges and universities, insofar as post-graduate work opportunities are concerned, is an indication that Canada, too, is alert to the growing importance of career-focused training to the Canadian economy.

We'll close today post with the slides from a presentation given at the ICEF Miami 2013 Workshop by Mr Gerencser and Robert Prendergast, Board Members of Career Colleges Canada.

See original article here: http://monitor.icef.com/2014/02/international-students-now-eligible-to-work-after-studies-at-canadian-career-colleges/