On September 18, 2024, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced significant updates to its temporary residence programs, introducing new regulations that impact the Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) program.
These changes will make the field of study a key factor when international students apply for College Diploma or Certificate programs in Canada.
What’s New? PGWP Eligibility by Field of Study
The recent IRCC regulations specify that only certain fields of study will qualify for a PGWP if the program is not a university degree program.
These eligible fields are:
- Agri-food
- Health Care
- STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)
- Trade
- Transport
These five categories cover 980 specific programs, each assigned a unique Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code. The CIP codes help categorize post-secondary programs in Canada and guide students in understanding which fields are eligible for PGWP.
Provincial Procedures and College Program Lists
Since education is regulated at the provincial level, provinces have introduced specific processes to determine program eligibility based on CIP codes.
In Ontario, for example, some public colleges have published preliminary lists of diploma and certificate programs that may be eligible for PGWP under the new regulations.
To assist international students, we’ve compiled links to the latest program lists from Ontario colleges:
Please check each college’s official website for the most up-to-date information.
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