Working during the summer
Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) regulation R 186 (v) allows international students to work full-time during established academic breaks.
Key points
- Summer term dates determine when you may work full-time off-campus
- When the summer term is a required academic term, you may not work full-time off-campus
- Required academic terms are determined by your program
- Even if you are not eligible to work full-time off-campus during the summer, you may still be eligible to work off-campus up to 24 hours/week
Can I work during the summer term?
You can work full-time off-campus in summer if you meet all of the following conditions:
- You are authorized to work off-campus by your study permit
- You were enrolled full-time in Winter 2025
- You are enrolled full-time in Fall 2025 (if Fall 2025 is your last term you can be enrolled part-time and still be allowed to work)
- Summer is not a required term for you (see below)
Summer 2025 dates
Academic break dates – for all students
You may work full-time off campus during these weeks if you meet the criteria:
- May 5 – 11, 2025
- August 20 – September 1, 2025
Academic term dates – when required by your program
These dates are important as they determine, if and when, you can work full-time off-campus during the summer:
- Summer I: May 12, 2025 – June 30, 2025
- Summer II: July 2, 2025 – August 19, 2025
- Two-term summer session: May 12, 2025 – August 19, 2025
Is summer a required academic term?
Summer is a required term based on your program requirements.
Important: The ISO cannot confirm whether your program requirement defines the summer term as a required term. The ISO can only inform you of your rights and obligations if summer is a required term for you.
If summer is a required term
You cannot work full-time off-campus in summer if any of these conditions apply to you:
- You are in a thesis-based graduate program
- You are a co-op student with a work-term during the summer
- If the summer is your first term or last term of your program
For questions
- Undergraduate students: Contact your department academic advisor or Student Academic Services for your faculty.
- Graduate students: Contact your Graduate Program Director.
- Co-op students: Contact your Program Coordinator.
If summer is not a required term
For course-based students, summer is usually, but not always, an academic break and not a required term.
If summer is not a required term for you, then you can work full-time off-campus from May 5 – September 1, 2025 if you meet the criteria.
Other questions
If you are eligible to work full-time off-campus during the summer as per the criteria described above, there is no limit to the amount of hours that you can work.
If you are not eligible to work full-time off-campus during the summer, then you can work a maximum of 24 hours per week off-campus.
If you are eligible to work full-time off-campus during the summer as per the criteria described above, then you can work full-time off-campus even if you choose to take summer classes.
If summer is not a required term for you, then you can choose to take summer classes or not, or to study part-time, and you remain eligible to work full-time off-campus.
The summer break is from May 5–11, 2025, inclusively. This means, the earliest date you may begin working full-time off-campus is May 5, 2025; you may not work as soon as you finish exams.
In addition, you can only continue working full-time off campus as of May 12, 2025, if:
- You meet the meet the criteria
- Summer is not a required term
The university does not provide a letter stating that you are eligible to work full-time off-campus during the summer.
However, you can refer your employer to the information provided by the Government of Canada.
You can also provide them:
- A copy of your study permit containing the statement to the effect that you “may accept employment on or off-campus if meeting eligibility criteria”,
- A copy of the academic calendar showing the dates of the academic breaks and summer term
- An attestation letter confirming that you were full-time during the preceding Winter term and are enrolled full-time for the following Fall term
- If the Fall term is your last term, you may be enrolled part-time and still work full-time, if you were full-time in the preceding Winter term.
An Attestation Letter can be obtained online from your Student Center. Select ‘conventional letter’ and add each term manually. A $20 (CAD) fee will be charged to your account for this service.
If you require assistance obtaining the attestation letter you can email the Birks Students Center at students@concordia.ca; these letters are not issued by the ISO.
Info from the Government of Canada
If summer is not a required term for you, the last day that you can work full-time off-campus is September 1, 2025. As of September 2, 2025, you can only work a maximum of 24 hours per week off-campus.
As with all work under your study permit, you must be registered full-time in Fall 2025 to work off-campus. If Fall is your final term, you may be registered part-time and work off-campus.
If summer is a required term for you, you can only work full-time off-campus during the following academic breaks:
- May 5–11, 2025
- August 20, 2025 – September 1, 2025
During the rest of the summer term, you can only work a maximum of 24 hours per week off-campus.
