How does the current duration of PGWPs in Canada work for international students?

After completing their studies in Canada, students apply for PGWP, the duration of which is sanctioned as per the duration of a student’s study. There are three slabs of PGWP in Canada. In the first slab, if the study period is more than eight months and less than two years, students will get PGWP as per the duration of their study period. For instance, if a student completes his one-year course from a Designated Learning Institution (DLI), then his PGWP would also be of the same duration, extendable up to 18 months as per the Public policy.

In the second slab, if the study period is two years or more, say up to 5 years, then students will get a maximum of three years of PGWP, which can be extended for 18 months. The extension of 18 months was stopped from the beginning of this year and students were eligible for PGWP as per the duration of their respective study programmes.

In the third slab, students pursuing master’s programmes for one year to one and a half years are given a relaxation in getting three years of PGWP.

According to experts, the current PGWP slabs resulted in fraud with students and their exploitation, and if students get PGWP for longer duration, it will be more beneficial to them.

How a longer PGWP is beneficial to students? What are these frauds? How will an extended duration of PGWP potentially mitigate fraudulent practices?

Longer PGWP will give students more time to develop their skills in a better way. They will get sufficient time to obtain PR points while learning skills without coming under stress.

After completing their studies, students get PGWP and apply for Permanent Residency (PR). During PGWP, they also get time to develop their skills based on their studies so that after obtaining PR, they can easily settle down in Canada. For PR, students need certain points which they try to get during PGWP. But when several students fail to obtain those points during their short duration of PGWP, they come under huge stress and anxiety and resort to either taking admission to some private colleges, which sell their admission offer letter by taking advantage of their helplessness to extend their stay or purchase Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), as an employer cannot sell LMIA but such things are happening, and students are being exploited, experts said.

Such frauds will be stopped if PGWP is extended and, in turn, it will motivate talented students to come to Canada, which requires skilled workers more than labourers now.

How will the extended duration of PGWP benefit students?

According to experts, all international students will benefit. Of the total international students in Canada, nearly 40 per cent are from India. Of these 40 per cent Indian students, over 60 per cent are from Punjab, so the extended PGWP will be of huge help to these Punjabi students. Most of these students are facing a tough time in obtaining PR points because they pursue small-duration diploma courses and, thus, get shorter duration of PGWP. In such a situation, they are spending more on pursuing irrelevant courses from private colleges and purchasing LMIA, etc.