Canada: IRCC Clarifies New Language and Study Requirements and Other Eligibility Criteria for Post-Graduation Work Permits
October 4, 2024
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada has published further details on the new language requirements for the Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) Program that will become effective on November 1, 2024. Applicants who graduate from a bachelor’s, master’s, or doctoral degree program must demonstrate either (a) a minimum language proficiency in English at a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) or (b) French at a Niveaux de competence linguistique canadiens (NCLC) level 7 in four language areas (reading, writing, listening and speaking). Those who graduate from any other university program are subject to the same language requirements but must have additionally graduated from an eligible field of study to be eligible for a PGWP. Those who graduate from a college program (or any other program not listed above) must demonstrate a minimum language proficiency in English or French at a CLB or NCLC level 5 in the four language areas and must have also graduated from an eligible field of study to be eligible for a PGWP. Additionally, IRCC has clarified that it will only accept language test results that are less than two years old at the time of the application. More details on eligibility criteria, acceptable language tests and eligible fields of study (which will be those linked to certain occupations in long-term shortage in Canada) can be found here.
This alert is for informational purposes only. If you have any questions, please contact the global immigration professional with whom you work at Fragomen.
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