To the delight of my friends here, and detriment, I’m sure, of my family at home, I’ve made the decision to stay in Toronto. To be fair, it had always been in the cards for me to stay here — at least for the immediate future — should the right opportunity present itself. And well, so it has. I have been fortunate to have been offered an internship upon graduation, so, at least for the next few months, I’ll be sticking around good ol’ T-dot. In a way though, the question of whether to stay or not has been answered for me, or perhaps just put in the ‘things for future-Chad to consider’ folder which, to be frank, is bursting at the seams these days.
So what now? Well, one thing’s for sure, there’s no dearth of information for recent international student graduates looking to stay in Canada. And the process is, I’m happy to say, pretty straightforward. As long as you’ve been a full-time student for more than two years, the process is merely a formality to getting your work permit; the one limitation being that you can only work for the length of time that you’ve been in Canada for, and up to a maximum of three years. Here’s the lowdown on the application process, courtesy of the fine folks at the International Student Centre.
What you’ll need:
- First, you’ll need to be within the ninety days since your notification from the university that you’ve completed your course requirements;
- You must have a valid study permit at the time of application;
- And you must provide proof of completion of your program. A letter from your registrar and your official transcript will be enough.
The Process:
You can make your application online or by mail. But first, you’ll have to go to the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website and download the following:
- Guide (IMM 5580)
- Application to Change Conditions, Extend My Stay or Remain in Canada (IMM 1249)
- Document Checklist (IMM 5583)
Then, all you have to do is to pay the processing fee of $150 online or with a fee receipt form (available at CIE) at any bank.
The Future You:
For those of you that are looking to stay in Canada for the long haul, what you’ll want to do is start pursuing is your permanent residency. Coincidentally, there’s an article posted in the Toronto Star just this morning, that outlines how you can go about doing so. But either way, you’ll still need to apply for your work permit like every other international student before you can be eligible.
If you have any more questions, or a personal experience with staying in Toronto after graduation that you’d like to share, leave us a comment below, we love comments! 
Hasta la próxima semana!
Chad
