How many hours a student can work in his part-time job?

Most of the international students in Canada do two kinds of jobs. One is on SIN i.e. SIN number which is legal. Other is on cash which is illegal. SIN number is similar to the PAN card number back in India and it holds records of the payments you have received from your employer. If you are working on SIN, you can't work more than 20 hours/week. Students usually do two shifts in one week and three shifts in the next week. This comes down to 24 hours in one week and 16 hours in other and since most of the payments are received bi-weekly, you will have 40 hours every two weeks i.e. 20 hours per week. On cash students can work more hours. But it is illegal keep that in mind. Students in order to pay the tuition fees and cover their living expenses start working on cash. Payments on cash are usually less than the minimum wage.

Students can work full time when they are on official breaks. Official breaks are those which are given in the program and students has not taken it on his own. Usually, students who come in september for a two year program have an official break in summer for four months. This is one of the reason students should apply for september intake so they can work full time and make some good money which can help them pay their tuition. Students who take unofficial breaks on their own can't even work for 20 hours/week if they are not registered in the program or semester. You can also work full time during reading breaks between every semester which is of 10-15 days.

You can work full time if you have applied for any type of work-permit and your application is still under process or waiting for the result. For e.g. if you have finished your program in August and have applied for work permit in September, then you can work from full time (i.e. 40 hours) until you get decision on your work permit.

What are different types of jobs students do part-time?

There are several types of jobs students do in Canada. Some students work in factories, some work in gas stations, some work in food court, some  as security guard, some bright minds do tutoring, some make videos and write blogs :-P, some work in convenience stores, etc. Let's see what kind of work students do in each of these.

1. Factory jobs - Factory jobs are considered one of the most stressful job since it requires physical work. But depending on the factory, you may get easy work for e.g. like arranging boxes, making box from a flat cardboard, etc. There are different kinds of factories like juice factory, beer factory, packing factory, bakery, etc. Here's a video which can help you better undrstand about factory jobs.

2. Food Court - Many students here work in food outlets. The most common outlets are McDonald's, Subway, Tim Hortons, Pizza Pizza, etc. The work is food court is fast depending on the location. Food outlets in Canada are usually busy because most of people prefer to eat outside rather than cooking at home. So, work in food court could be stressful. Your work mostly includes either of the following roles : Taking orders, making the sandwich, cashier, preparing any other kind of orders, etc.

3. Gas Station - Gas stations are usually less busy than the food court. But you might have to pay if there is any drive off in your shift. What is drive off? When someone fill the gas and don't pay, it is considered a drive off. Sometimes students forget to ask people whether they have filled any gas and only charges them for eateries or drinks which in turn result in drive off and students are made to pay the amount of the gas they forgot to charge. Your work in gas station usually includes : filling cooler with drinks, stocking the eatery section, changing prices of gas, brooming, cleaning the washroom, throwing the garbage bags and replacing it with new ones, carrying out transactions, closing the shift in the POS, etc. 

4. Uber - Uber is one of the best job for students as it offers flexible hours. You can start working at your own convenience and finish it when you want. But the thing is it requires a car. Many students here purchase car within one year and start doing Uber. You could make good amount of money with Uber. Work includes : accepting the rides, going to customer's location and dropping him off at his desired location. That's it.

5. Security Guard - Wokring as Security Guard is one of the least stressful job in Canada. Of course, you are supposed to keep track of things and be alert but there is no physical work like in factories. You pass the security guard exam which costs something around $150-200, you get a license, go to any agency and start doing shifts. Just stand for eight hours keeping track of things. Security guards are required for events, for apartments and condos, for construction site, for malls, etc. If you got job at construction site, it could be a lot tiresome day as you will have to stand whole day bearing with hot sun or even in winter. Secority guard also get good pay usually more than minimum wage and if you have good experience you can get other benefits too. Work includes : being alert, keeping track of things, watching if some customer is not shoplifting, etc. 

6. Tutoring - Some few intelligent minds also start part-time tutoring. They teach maths or science to kids aging 6-14 years. The money is very good but it is also very hard to find this kind of job. Work includes : teaching the students. 

7. Convenience store - So, those were the most common jobs students do on part-time basis in Canda. There are many other jobs too. Hope this article was useful to you and gave you good information. 

Difference between S-1 and SW-1 Visa

When you apply for a study permit, you can get two types of student visa. One is S-1 and other is SW-1. Some students start to stress themselves over the type of visa they get but it doesn't really make much difference. As its name indicates, S-1 stands for Study Visa and SW-1 visa stands for Study and Work visa or study permit with work permit. Usually, students who have a compulsory co-op in their program are issued SW-1 visa. On the other hand, students who have an optional co-op or internship in theri program are given S-1 visa. But sometimes, even students who have mandatory co-op also get just S-1 visa. Don't worry if you are one of them. 

With S-1 visa, you have to apply for co-op work permit after coming here. If you have SW-1 visa, there is no need to apply for co-op work permit and you can start working in your internship without additional permit. 

Thing to keep in mind - When you are applying for study permit, you will be asked whether you have a co-op or not in your program. If you tick yes, you will need co-op letter from your college in order to get SW-1 visa. Co-op letter is a small letter in which it is written that internship is a part of your program. It is clearly written in some of the offer letters that you have a co-op or internship in your program. If it is written in your offer letter, you might not need any other co-op letter. Otherwise, you will have to mail your college and apply to get co-op letter. It is better to mail college and get co-op letter first if you have an optional co-op in your program. Even if you are not sure that you are going to take co-op, get co-op letter if it is possible. This way, you can directly get SW-1 visa. 

There is not any other big difference between these two kinds of visa. You don't need to worry if you get either of them. Plus, application for co-op work permit is also free. There is no charges. Even if you get S-1 visa, you can apply for co-op work permit for free after coming here.