The Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced sweeping changes to the eligibility criteria for Open Work Permits (OWPs) for family members of international students and foreign workers effective January 21. These changes, set to begin effecting January 21, 2025, aim to streamline the temporary resident programs, aligning them more closely with the Canadian economic objectives and current labour market demands. New Criteria for Canada Spousal Open Work Permits For Spouses of International Students: Master’s Programs: Spouses can apply for an OWP only if their partner is enrolled in a master’s program with a minimum duration of 16 months. Doctoral Programs: Eligibility extends to spouses of students pursuing doctoral degrees. Professional Programs: A select group of professional programs will also qualify, but specifics on these programs are yet to be detailed, with full disclos...

    University of Windsor 401 Sunset Avenue Windsor Ontario Canada N9B 3P4  www.uwindsor.ca   Two teams, 15 minutes to prepare, three supporting arguments, and seven minutes to speak. "It's nerve-wracking and a bit intimidating, but also very empowering because you're always advocating for some type of change," says Natalie George, president of the Odette Debate Club. The 2025 North American Debating Championships (NorthAms), hosted by the University of Windsor's Odette School of Business and SEED Debate Academy on Jan. 18 and 19, will spotlight this art of fast-paced debate. The event will bring together 75 elite teams representing leading institutions across Canada and the United States as they vie for the championship title. Teams will debate a range of topics in the realms of economics, politics, current affairs or social issues. Each assigned an opposing side, teams will have 15 minutes after learning the motio...

    Dalhousie University 1459 Oxford Street Halifax Nova Scotia Canada B3H 4R2  www.dal.ca/   Dalhousie University's national leadership in creating programs that empower students and researchers to turn ideas into enterprises has been rewarded with a $32 million grant from the Government of Canada through the Lab to Market grants program. The funding was announced Wendnesday (Jan.15) by the Honourable Terry Duguid, minister of sport in an event at Red River College Polytechnic in Winnipeg. The investment will be administered by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) in collaboration with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. This new funding establishes Dalhousie as the national headquarters of Lab2Market, an innovation, commercialization and entrepreneurship skills training program founded by Dalhousie and Toron...

Centennial College P.O. Box 631, Station A Toronto Ontario Canada M1K 5E9  www.centennialcollege.ca/ Centennial named one of Canada's Top Research Colleges, #1 in paid student research Centennial College has consistently been ranked as one of the top 50 research colleges in Canada, and this year we were recognized again by Research Infosource. Notably, Centennial ranked first for paid internships in applied research and 20th for research revenue. When it comes to paid internships in applied research, we have 599 student researchers through our faculty of Applied Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Centennial Innovates. This group leads all of the College’s applied research and is responsible for our ranking as number one for four consecutive years. “These results are the result of an outstanding performance by a very capable team,” said Jonathan Hack, Dean of Centennial Innovates. “I couldn’t be more proud of all of our inn...

 Highlights from IRCC Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has recently announced a series of changes to the criteria for applying for a Post-Graduation Work Permit, as well as an updated list of eligible occupations. Accordingly, international students need to be aware of the new requirements to be able to transition from studying to working in Canada.  Eligibility criteria remain unchanged To be eligible for a Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP), international students must continue to meet the general eligibility and geographic location requirements (even after November 1, 2024) and complete their studies at a designated PGWP-eligible educational institution. If an international student applies for a PGWP before November 1, 2024 => Only need to meet the current eligibility criteria. If international students apply for a PGWP as flight school graduates eligible for a PGWP => Only need to meet current eligibility criteria (ev...