Canada-Quebec Memorandum of Understanding on a Pilot Project to Issue Work Permits for International Students

Electronic Version

Original signed May 21, 2004

BETWEEN

THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA,
represented by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, hereinafter referred to as Citizenship and Immigration Canada,

AND

THE GOVERNMENT OF QUEBEC,
represented by the ministre des Relations avec les citoyens et de l’Immigration and the ministre délégué aux Affaires intergouvernementales canadiennes et ministre des Affaires autochtones, hereinafter referred to as the Ministère des Relations avec les citoyens et de l’Immigration,

Whereas Canada and Quebec each have specific responsibilities for immigration, as defined in the Canada-Quebec Accord Relating to Immigration and Temporary Admission of Aliens;

Whereas Canada and Quebec have joint responsibility for preserving the integrity of the international student program;

Whereas Citizenship and Immigration Canada wishes to implement off-campus work pilot projects that will be in compliance with the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations and will serve as uniform models nationally;

Whereas access to the Quebec labour market for international students attending public postsecondary institutions in specific regions of Quebec is consistent with the policy of the Ministère des Relations avec les citoyens et de l’Immigration to increase the presence of international students in the regions;

Whereas participation in such a project would enable participating institutions to be more competitive internationally and give international students an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of Quebec society and Canadian society;

Whereas this Agreement is a Canadian intergovernmental agreement within the meaning of section 3.8 of the Act Respecting the Ministère du Conseil exécutif, R.S.Q., c. M-30;

Whereas, pursuant to the first paragraph of section 3.8 of that Act, Canadian intergovernmental agreements must, to be valid, be approved by the Government and be signed by the c. ministre délégué aux Affaires intergouvernementales canadiennes et ministre des Affaires autochtones;

The parties hereto agree as follows:

1. Definitions

1.1 In this document, the terms below are defined as follows:

“Agreement”: Agreement on Off-campus Work for International Students between the Government of Canada and the Government of Quebec;

“Public postsecondary institution”: any public education institution at the college or university level;

“Participating institution”: any public postsecondary institution which has its head office outside the census metropolitan areas of Montreal and Québec and which is listed as an eligible institution in Annex 1 of this agreement, to the extent that the institution in question has signed the Protocole de mise en œuvre du projet de travail hors campus des étudiants internationaux [protocol for implementing the project on international students working off campus], as per the form attached in Annex 2 of this agreement;

“International students”: students from outside Canada who are living in Quebec temporarily with authorization to study there.

1.2 Except where otherwise stated, the other terms used in this Agreement convey the meaning attributed to them, where applicable, in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and Regulations.

2. Purpose and objectives of Agreement

2.1 The purpose of this Agreement is to set out terms and conditions of an off-campus work project for international students and the parties’ respective responsibilities in this regard.

2.2 The objective of the project is to enable international students meeting specific criteria to obtain a permit for off-campus work in any field of activity, which may or may not be related to their program of study.

2.3 The objective of the project is also to provide participating students with an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of Quebec society and Canadian society, while preserving the integrity of the international student program.

3. Responsibilities of the parties

3.1 Citizenship and Immigration Canada is responsible for

1. setting general eligibility criteria for institutions and students wishing to participate in the project;
2. specifying the nature of the information required for implementing and monitoring the project;
3. cooperating with the Ministère des Relations avec les citoyens et de l’Immigration in preparing compatible, uniform reports for data collection in the context of project evaluation;
4. issuing work permits to eligible international students, in compliance with the criteria in the Guide à l’intention des étrangers qui étudient au Québec et qui désirent travailler hors campus [Guide for foreign nationals studying in Quebec and wishing to work off-campus] and the guidelines in the Foreign Worker Manual;
5. informing students of the applicable limits on their work permits.

3.2 The Ministére des Relations avec les citoyens et de l’Immigration is responsible for

1. signing, with each institution wishing to participate in the project, a agreement outlining the terms and responsibilities involved in the off-campus work project, based on the model in Annex 2;
2. coordinating project implementation in cooperation with Citizenship and Immigration Canada and the participating institutions;
3. ensuring consistent implementation of the project;
4. updating, on a regular basis, the ministère de l’Éducation du Québec on the progress of the project;
5. informing Citizenship and Immigration Canada of any cases of non-compliance by participants as soon as such information is received from participating institutions;
6. processing data provided by the institutions and issuing reports to Citizenship and Immigration Canada, once per regular academic session, containing impersonal, aggregate data on overall student participation;
7. appointing a staff member of the Direction générale de l’immigration sociale et humanitaire as project coordinator.

4. Advisory committee

The Ministère des Relations avec les citoyens et de l’Immigration and Citizenship and Immigration Canada will establish an advisory committee comprising a representative of each of the parties, a representative of the participating university institutions and a representative of the participating college institutions. This committee will be responsible for overseeing project operation and ongoing evaluation. It will meet at least three times a year.

5. Eligibility criteria and applicable limits

5.1 Eligible institutions are participating institutions as defined in 1.1. Participating institutions undertake to implement the project and to monitor student compliance with project criteria. Any additions to the list of institutions eligible for the project in Annex 1 may be made only with the prior approval of Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

5.2 Eligible students are those international students who attend participating institutions and who

1. are at least 18 year of age;
2. have completed two consecutive sessions of study within the previous 12months at a participating institution;
3. have been, and plan to remain, registered as full-time students in a university program of undergraduate or graduate studies or in a technical college program;
4. have signed a consent form authorizing the exchange of personal information about them between the institution, the Ministère des Relations avec les citoyens et de l’Immigration and Citizenship and Immigration Canada;
5. maintain acceptable academic standing;
6. receive a verification form from an eligible institution;
7. continue to fulfil the terms and conditions of their study permits and work permits, as applicable;
8. have never failed to meet the terms and conditions of the off-campus work project.

5.3 International students who have received an award from the Canadian Commonwealth Scholarship Program or Government of Canada Awards Program funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade or an award from the Canadian International Development Agency are not eligible for a work permit under this pilot project.

5.4 Work permits issued under this project will be limited to one year or to the duration of the study permit, if it is shorter, and authorize students to work in the regions targeted by the project for a maximum of 15 hours per week during academic sessions and full time during scheduled breaks.

6. Designated contact offices

6.1 Each party will designate an office that will be responsible for ensuring the integrity of the Agreement and serve as the main point of contact for any questions or concerns arising from the Agreement.

6.2 The designated contact offices for the Agreement are as follows:

1. for Citizenship and Immigration Canada:
   Selection Branch
   Economic Immigration Policy and Programs
   Citizenship and Immigration Canada
   Jean Edmonds Tower North
   300 Slater Street, 7th Floor
   Ottawa, Ontario K1A 1L1
2. for the Ministère des Relations avec les citoyens et de l’Immigration:
   Direction générale de l’immigration sociale et humanitaire
   Ministère des Relations avec les citoyens et de l’Immigration
   Tour de la Bourse
   800 Victoria Square, Suite 2.70
   Montreal, Quebec H4Z 1E3

7. Evaluation

7.1 A formal evaluation of the pilot project will be conducted, early in its second year, in accordance with the established standards of Citizenship and Immigration Canada and the Ministère des Relations avec les citoyens et de l’Immigration, in cooperation with the participating institutions.

7.2 At the end of the two-year project, the Ministère des Relations avec les citoyens et de l’Immigration will provide Citizenship and Immigration Canada with a final report, which will include details of student participation and compliance with pilot project criteria, as well as an analysis of the pilot project’s success in meeting its objectives.

8. Other

8.1 This Agreement imposes no specific financial responsibilities on the parties. However, each party will be responsible for the costs it incurs through its participation in the Agreement.

8.2

1. All collection, use, disclosure, retention and destruction of personal information under this Agreement will be in conformity with the requirements of the Privacy Act (R.S.C.  1985, c. P-21), for Canada, and the Act Respecting Access to Documents Held by Public Bodies and the Protection of Personal Information (R.S.Q., c. A-2.1), for Quebec.
2. For this purpose, the parties undertake specifically to
   1. collect only such personal information as is required to carry out the project;
   2. limit disclosure of personal information to the information required to carry out the project;
   3. take appropriate action to ensure that
      • only the designated representatives of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, the Ministère des Relations avec les citoyens et de l’Immigration and the participating postsecondary institutions and the authorized persons within those bodies can have access to the personal information collected or shared;
      • information to be shared is protected during communication or transmittal;
   4. take security measures to ensure the physical integrity of locations where collected and shared information is stored and that the confidential nature of that information is thereby guaranteed during use, retention and disposal;
   5. inform the other party of any failure to protect the confidentiality of personal information on its part, on the part of its staff, or on the part of persons working on the project.

9. Final provisions

9.1 This Agreement is effective on the date of the last signature and expires 24 months after that date, subject to paragraphs 4 and 5.

9.2 This Agreement may be amended by the written consent of both parties.

9.3 The information in the annexes and article 6.2 may be changed without requiring amendment to the Agreement.

9.4 At the end of the two-year period referred to in article 1, the parties may choose to renew this Agreement, amend and renew the Agreement, or terminate the Agreement.

9.5 A party may terminate the Agreement at any time by written notice to the other party as early as possible and no less than three months prior to the date of termination. The Ministère des Relations avec les citoyens et de l’Immigration will forward the notice to participating institutions without delay so that they stop providing verification forms to students as soon as written notification of intent to terminate is received.

9.6 The text of the Agreement, in French, is authoritative.

EN FOI DE QUOI, les parties apposent leur signature à la présente.

FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA

_____________________________
The Honourable Judy Sgro,
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada or designate

__________________
Witness

_________
Date

FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF QUEBEC

_____________________________
The Honourable Michelle Courchesne
Minister of Relations avec les citoyens et de
l’Immigration or designate

__________________
Witness

_________
Date

The Honourable Benoît Pelletier
Deputy Minister of Affaires intergouvernementales
canadiennes et aux Affaires autochtones or designate

__________________
Witness

_________
Date

ANNEX 1
LIST OF ELIGIBLE INSTITUTIONS

Universities

1. Université Bishop’s
2. Université de Sherbrooke
3. Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue
4. Université du Québec à Chicoutimi
5. Université du Québec en Outaouais
6. Université du Québec à Rimouski
7. Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières

Cegeps

1. Cégep Beauce-Appalaches
2. Cégep de Baie-Comeau
3. Cégep de Chicoutimi
4. Cégep de Drummondville
5. Cégep de Granby – Haute-Yamaska
6. Cégep de Jonquière
7. Cégep de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue
8. Cégep de la Gaspésie et des Îles
9. Cégep de la Pocatière
10. Cégep de la Région de l’Amiante
11. Cégep de Matane
12. Cégep de Rimouski
13. Cégep de Rivière-du-Loup
14. Cégep de Saint-Félicien
15. Cégep de Saint-Hyacinthe
16. Cégep de Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu
17. Cégep de Sept-Îles
18. Cégep de Sherbrooke
19. Cégep de Sorel-Tracy
20. Cégep de Trois-Rivières
21. Cégep de Victoriaville
22. Champlain Regional College
23. Collège d’Alma
24. Collège de l’Outaouais
25. Collège Shawinigan
26. Heritage College