New Delhi: Working for more than stipulated hour might bring extra stipend in some countries, however, in Canada it might deport you. An international student from Punjab Jobandeep Sandhu was arrested for “working too hard” — beyond the stipulated hours— and faced deportation from Canada.
He was stopped by the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) on December 13, 2017, during a routine check up while he was found to be driving a commercial vehicle between Toronto and Montreal on the Highway 401.
Sandhu had no criminal record till the time he was nabbed. The inspection of his driver log book revealed that he had worked “way beyond’ the stipulated 20 hours a week allowed to any international student in Canada by the Canadian government.
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The Canadian rules has fixed that the international students studying in Canada could work up to 20 hours a week “off campus” without a separate work visa. However, during summer vacation they are allowed to work full-time.
While Sandhu has appealed that by working full time he could afford his studies, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has said he was “inadmissible” to Canada for having breached the terms of his study permit and that the decision regarding his impending deportation was even upheld by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada.
He has been pleading he had committed no crime in Canada “except for working” and had “never lied” about it.
However, the stance of the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has been that limiting off campus work to 20 hours per week during session was aimed at offering an opportunity to students to gain valuable workplace experience in the country and to earn some money as well.
Before 2006, international students in Canada were only allowed to work on campus. But, after a number of projects by the then Stephen Harper-led Conservative government, it had launched the Off-Campus Work Permit Programme allowing foreign students to apply for permits for working up to 20 hours a week after having completed six months of their studies.