International Student With Study Permit and Now an OWP, Doing 2 Part-Time Jobs Wanting To Know How It Can Help With PR and Citizenship

[younesp]

Hi there,

I am an Iranian international student who initially arrived with a Study Permit and have recently obtained an Open Work Permit (OPW) (a special case for Iranians)

I was working less than 20 hours per week (hired through contract, a part-time job), but also was doing a cash job (a part-time job as well) which promised to hire me through contract once I had my OPW.

Now that I have the OPW, I would like to request to be hired through a contract which means no more cash payment and hello tax payment (no problem with that).

I'm curious to know if the two part-time jobs I'm currently juggling, totaling around 140 hours per month while managing my studies, are considered as Canadian Work Experience. This is crucial for my path to PR and, ultimately, Citizenship, which is my end goal.

Thank you for your time.
Y
(Apologies if it's not well-written, wrote this while in TTC)

 

[scylla]

Hi there,

I am an Iranian international student who initially arrived with a Study Permit and have recently obtained an Open Work Permit (OPW) (a special case for Iranians)

I was working less than 20 hours per week (hired through contract, a part-time job), but also was doing a cash job (a part-time job as well) which promised to hire me through contract once I had my OPW.

Now that I have the OPW, I would like to request to be hired through a contract which means no more cash payment and hello tax payment (no problem with that).

I'm curious to know if the two part-time jobs I'm currently juggling, totaling around 140 hours per month while managing my studies, are considered as Canadian Work Experience. This is crucial for my path to PR and, ultimately, Citizenship, which is my end goal.

Thank you for your time.
Y
(Apologies if it's not well-written, wrote this while in TTC)

No - this will not be classified as Canadian work experience since you are studying. Only work experience after you complete your diploma / degree will count.

 

[younesp]

No - this will not be classified as Canadian work experience since you are studying. Only work experience after you complete your diploma / degree will count.

Thank you for your reply!
So even with an OWP and having over 140 hours per month, it is still not considered Canadian work experience?
Will it in any way help speed up the process of PR or citizenship?

 

[Naturgrl]

Thank you for your reply!
So even with an OWP and having over 140 hours per month, it is still not considered Canadian work experience?
Will it in any way help speed up the process of PR or citizenship?

So you are a full time student, you cannot count work experience while a student.

You say you are on contract so are you getting T4s and does you paystub have deductions for EI, CPP etc. Cash job would not count.


https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/eligibility/canadian-experience-class.html#work-experience

 

[younesp]

So you are a full time student, you cannot count work experience while a student.

You say you are on contract so are you getting T4s and does you paystub have deductions for EI, CPP etc. Cash job would not count.


https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/eligibility/canadian-experience-class.html#work-experience

Yes, a full-time student doing two contract part-time jobs. I am getting a "Payroll Deductions Online Calculator Result" that comes with my cheque for one of the jobs. My paystub actually does have Federal tax, Provincial Tax, CPP, and EI deductions.

 

[Buletruck]

Yes, a full-time student doing two contract part-time jobs. I am getting a "Payroll Deductions Online Calculator Result" that comes with my cheque for one of the jobs. My paystub actually does have Federal tax, Provincial Tax, CPP, and EI deductions.

Working illegally doesn't bode well for your current status as a whole, never mind opportunities for future status.

 

[Naturgrl]

Yes, a full-time student doing two contract part-time jobs. I am getting a "Payroll Deductions Online Calculator Result" that comes with my cheque for one of the jobs. My paystub actually does have Federal tax, Provincial Tax, CPP, and EI deductions.

So no your current work doesn’t count since you are a full time student on a study permit. For the one with “online calculator” are you having everything deducted by your employer? If not, then you would not be issued T4 as an employee.

 

[canuck78]

Hi there,

I am an Iranian international student who initially arrived with a Study Permit and have recently obtained an Open Work Permit (OPW) (a special case for Iranians)

I was working less than 20 hours per week (hired through contract, a part-time job), but also was doing a cash job (a part-time job as well) which promised to hire me through contract once I had my OPW.

Now that I have the OPW, I would like to request to be hired through a contract which means no more cash payment and hello tax payment (no problem with that).

I'm curious to know if the two part-time jobs I'm currently juggling, totaling around 140 hours per month while managing my studies, are considered as Canadian Work Experience. This is crucial for my path to PR and, ultimately, Citizenship, which is my end goal.

Thank you for your time.
Y
(Apologies if it's not well-written, wrote this while in TTC)

If working for cash off the books you wouldn’t be able to use that time as Canadian work experience since it is working illegally. Unfortunately I doubt the employer is going to be willing to pay you legally if they have not been paying their employees legally up to this point. Given that international students were no longer limited to 20 hours per week there was never a justification as to why you needed to be paid in cash. When students were limited to 20 hours per week many worked extra cash jobs to work more than the 20 hours but that was not the case in your situation.

Are you sure you retained your study permit in addition to your WP? Often the more recent permit is the valid one. It sounds like you were already in Canada and have valid status as a student to remain in Canada. These special programs seem to have not been thought out very carefully. They have essentially become vehicles for many people to secure WPs when many didn’t qualify before. I would be curious to see how many applied for these special programs in December/January. Many will end up applying for H&C because it will be incredibly difficult to secure PR with so many newcomers arriving at the same time and economy not doing great so securing jobs and future WPs will likely be more difficult. The wait times for H&C will likely be over 2 years in the near future between parents and young people unable to secure PR through express entry.

 

[younesp]

If working for cash off the books you wouldn’t be able to use that time as Canadian work experience since it is working illegally. Unfortunately I doubt the employer is going to be willing to pay you legally if they have not been paying their employees legally up to this point. Given that international students were no longer limited to 20 hours per week there was never a justification as to why you needed to be paid in cash. When students were limited to 20 hours per week many worked extra cash jobs to work more than the 20 hours but that was not the case in your situation.

Are you sure you retained your study permit in addition to your WP? Often the more recent permit is the valid one. It sounds like you were already in Canada and have valid status as a student to remain in Canada. These special programs seem to have not been thought out very carefully. They have essentially become vehicles for many people to secure WPs when many didn’t qualify before. I would be curious to see how many applied for these special programs in December/January. Many will end up applying for H&C because it will be incredibly difficult to secure PR with so many newcomers arriving at the same time and economy not doing great so securing jobs and future WPs will likely be more difficult. The wait times for H&C will likely be over 2 years in the near future between parents and young people unable to secure PR through express entry.

Oh from the few last replies, I can see that there's a misunderstanding. My apologies as I didn't explain more thoroughly.
My question is not about the cash job as I'm aware that cash jobs do you count as canadian work experience.

Imagine this scenario instead:

Someone who came here as an international student a few months ago, is now a domestic student and will still be studying until 2025, had a study permit but now also has an open work permit, and currently has two part-time contract jobs that he pays taxes and all the deductions through. Will the work experience from these two part-time jobs (Not cash jobs anymore) help with the PR or citizenship process?

 

[Naturgrl]

Oh from the few last replies, I can see that there's a misunderstanding. My apologies as I didn't explain more thoroughly.
My question is not about the cash job as I'm aware that cash jobs do you count as canadian work experience.

Imagine this scenario instead:

Someone who came here as an international student a few months ago, is now a domestic student and will still be studying until 2025, had a study permit but now also has an open work permit, and currently has two part-time contract jobs that he pays taxes and all the deductions through. Will the work experience from these two part-time jobs (Not cash jobs anymore) help with the PR or citizenship process?

Not as a student if on a study permit as well. Canadian Experience counts once program is completed and on PGWP. Person can quit school and just work. Assume work is skilled.