International students eager to get work
Now that international students are permitted to work off-campus, Concordia’s International Student’s Office (ISO) has been inundated with more than 1,000 requests to do so.
Universities nationwide have spent months preparing the framework to deal with applications. All they awaited was federal funding to support the program.
“The funding announcement came on April 27, and we started to process applications on May 1,” said Isabelle Lacelle, Coordinator at the ISO.
In order to receive a permit, students must attend a mandatory ISO information session, have six months of full-time study under their belt and be in good academic standing.
Demand is so great and the process so involved that two staff members have been working on this full-time, she added.
Once completed, applications take one month to process.
“Because the program came out so late, a large number of students had already made plans to go home.”<
She said another round of information sessions will be held for students returning in the fall. Anyone who requires more information should email the ISO at iso@alcor.concordia.ca or visit its office in H-653.