Self-employment, such as running your own small business, would be considered as “off-campus work”. Starting and running your own small business as an international student, i.e., conducting off-campus work, is possible provided that you have the required authorization and meet all prerequisites.
First, the conditions of your study permit must authorize you to work off-campus during your studies.
An international student is eligible to work off campus without a work permit so long as they:
- have an explicit authorization on their study permit authorizing them to work off campus;
- are a full-time student at a designated learning institution (a school that is approved by provincial or territorial government to host international students); are enrolled in a post-secondary, academic, vocational, or professional training program OR a secondary-level vocational training program (Quebec only);
- are enrolled in a study program that is at least 6 months long and leads to a degree, diploma, or certificate
- have started studying and are actively engaged in pursuing their study program; and
- have a Social Insurance Number.
If an international student is a part-time student at a designated learning institution, they can only work off campus if they (1) meet all the above requirements, except for the requirement to be studying on a full-time basis because (2) they are only studying part-time because they are in the last semester of their study program and do not need a full course load to complete the program. The international student must have been a full-time student in their program up until their last semester.
If the study permit does not explicitly grant authorization to work off-campus and an international student met all the criteria at the time of the initial study permit application, they can ask to have this authorization added by applying to amend the terms of the study permit. There are no fees involved in submitting the application. However, if a student’s study program has changed and they are now eligible to work off-campus, then they must apply for a new study permit and fees will apply.
Second, you must not work more than the authorized hours of work per week.
During term time, international students can work off campus up to 20 hours a week and full-time during regularly scheduled breaks.
However on October 7, 2022, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada announced that international students are authorized to work more than 20 hours per week during term time until December 31, 2023 if they hold a study permit that authorized them to work off-campus that was either (1) issued before October 7, 2022 or (2) was applied for before October 2022 and they met all the eligibility criteria to work off-campus noted above.
Third, respecting and tracking compliance with employment authorization
If you are working off campus as a self-employed individual, you are responsible for keeping track of the hours you work off campus and for proving that you are complying with the conditions of your study permit.
Hours are calculated as any time you spend doing any of the following:
Being self-employed should not affect your eligibility for a PGWP as long as you respected the terms of your off-campus work authorization and can submit documentary evidence as such if requested.