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Can international students work full time during breaks?

Yes, if your school schedules the break and you meet the conditions. During a scheduled break, such as the summer or winter holidays or a reading week, you can work unlimited hours off campus. Here are the rules, and a sample school year that shows which weeks have the 24-hour limit.

The rule

During your academic sessions, you can work up to 24 hours per week off campus. During a break scheduled by your school, you can work unlimited hours (IRCC). IRCC’s Help Centre puts it this way: you can work full time during scheduled breaks, and once your school year restarts, you can work a maximum of 24 hours per week (IRCC Help Centre).

Taking courses during your break, part time or full time, doesn’t change this (IRCC).

What counts as a scheduled break

IRCC’s Help Centre sets these rules (IRCC Help Centre):

  • Your school schedules the break.
  • It lasts at least 7 consecutive days. IRCC’s example is a break of a week, including the weekend.
  • A statutory holiday on its own, such as Labour Day, is not a scheduled break.
  • If back-to-back breaks make a break period longer than 150 consecutive days, you can work off campus only during the first 150 days.
  • All your regularly scheduled breaks together give you at most 180 days of unlimited hours per calendar year.

A break you create yourself doesn’t count: you can’t work on or off campus during it (IRCC operational instructions). If your program has no scheduled breaks, the 24-hour limit applies all year (IRCC).

Full time before and after

You need to be eligible to work off campus in the first place: see how many hours you can work. For breaks, IRCC’s instructions add one more condition: you must be a full-time student in the session before the break and in the session after it (IRCC operational instructions).

A school year, week by week

Here is a sample year at a fictional university, drawn the way the Hourpip app sees it: one square per week, Monday to Sunday. Your school’s dates will be different.

Sample school year 2026–2027, one square per week, Monday to Sunday. Fictional dates.
  • Term week: up to 24 h
  • Break week: no weekly limit
  • Partly a break: check the days
  1. Week of September 7: Term week: up to 24 h
  2. Week of September 14: Term week: up to 24 h
  3. Week of September 21: Term week: up to 24 h
  4. Week of September 28: Term week: up to 24 h
  1. Week of October 5: Term week: up to 24 h
  2. Week of October 12: Term week: up to 24 h
  3. Week of October 19: Partly a break: check the days
  4. Week of October 26: Break week: no weekly limit
  1. Week of November 2: Term week: up to 24 h
  2. Week of November 9: Term week: up to 24 h
  3. Week of November 16: Term week: up to 24 h
  4. Week of November 23: Term week: up to 24 h
  5. Week of November 30: Term week: up to 24 h
  1. Week of December 7: Term week: up to 24 h
  2. Week of December 14: Partly a break: check the days
  3. Week of December 21: Break week: no weekly limit
  4. Week of December 28: Break week: no weekly limit
  1. Week of January 4: Term week: up to 24 h
  2. Week of January 11: Term week: up to 24 h
  3. Week of January 18: Term week: up to 24 h
  4. Week of January 25: Term week: up to 24 h
  1. Week of February 1: Term week: up to 24 h
  2. Week of February 8: Partly a break: check the days
  3. Week of February 15: Break week: no weekly limit
  4. Week of February 22: Term week: up to 24 h
  1. Week of March 1: Term week: up to 24 h
  2. Week of March 8: Term week: up to 24 h
  3. Week of March 15: Term week: up to 24 h
  4. Week of March 22: Term week: up to 24 h
  5. Week of March 29: Term week: up to 24 h
  1. Week of April 5: Term week: up to 24 h
  2. Week of April 12: Term week: up to 24 h
  3. Week of April 19: Partly a break: check the days
  4. Week of April 26: Break week: no weekly limit
  1. Week of May 3: Break week: no weekly limit
  2. Week of May 10: Break week: no weekly limit
  3. Week of May 17: Break week: no weekly limit
  4. Week of May 24: Break week: no weekly limit
  5. Week of May 31: Break week: no weekly limit
  1. Week of June 7: Break week: no weekly limit
  2. Week of June 14: Break week: no weekly limit
  3. Week of June 21: Break week: no weekly limit
  4. Week of June 28: Break week: no weekly limit
  1. Week of July 5: Break week: no weekly limit
  2. Week of July 12: Break week: no weekly limit
  3. Week of July 19: Break week: no weekly limit
  4. Week of July 26: Break week: no weekly limit
  1. Week of August 2: Break week: no weekly limit
  2. Week of August 9: Break week: no weekly limit
  3. Week of August 16: Break week: no weekly limit
  4. Week of August 23: Break week: no weekly limit
  5. Week of August 30: Break week: no weekly limit

The sample calendar

  • Fall term: September 7 – December 18, 2026 (103 days)
  • Fall reading week: October 24 – November 1, 2026 (9 days)
  • Winter break: December 19 – January 3, 2027 (16 days)
  • Winter term: January 4 – April 23, 2027 (110 days)
  • Winter reading week: February 13 – February 21, 2027 (9 days)
  • Summer break: April 24 – September 5, 2027 (135 days)
  • Thanksgiving, October 12, 2026, is a statutory holiday, so it stays a term day.

That makes 25 term weeks, 23 break weeks and 4 weeks that are partly a break.

Break days per calendar year: 22 in 2026 and 147 in 2027, under the 180-day limit. The summer break lasts 135 days, under 150.

Look at the weeks around each break. The fall term ends on a Friday and the winter break starts on a Saturday, so the week of December 14 is partly a break. The same happens before every break in this sample.

Weeks that are partly a break

Breaks rarely start on a Monday. In the sample above, every break starts on a Saturday, so the week before it is part term and part break. IRCC doesn’t say how to count a week like that, or which day a week starts.

The Hourpip app doesn’t estimate these weeks. It marks them “Partly a break” and asks you to review them, rather than give you a number it can’t stand behind. If you plan to work a lot in a week like that, ask your international student office how to count it.

Before your break

  • Find your break dates in your school’s official calendar, for your campus and your program.
  • Check that the break lasts at least 7 consecutive days and that you are full time before and after it.
  • If you have long breaks, count your break days in the calendar year: the limit is 180 days.
  • Plan the week you go back: the 24-hour limit applies again once your school year restarts.

In Hourpip, reading weeks and holidays come from your school calendar, or you can add your own dates. To add up a week yourself, use the work hours calculator.

Questions

Can I work full time during reading week?

Yes, if your school schedules it and it lasts at least 7 consecutive days. IRCC’s example counts a week including the weekend (IRCC Help Centre).

Does a long weekend count as a break?

No. A statutory holiday on its own is not a scheduled break, and a break must last at least 7 consecutive days (IRCC Help Centre).

What if I take summer courses?

Taking courses during your break, part time or full time, doesn’t affect your ability to work unlimited hours during it (IRCC).

What if my program has no breaks?

Then you can work up to 24 hours per week during your whole program (IRCC).

Sources

Track your real weeks in Hourpip.

Hourpip records your shifts, plans your week and shows the hours left under the 24-hour limit, with your school breaks built in. Free, in English and French, coming soon to iPhone and Android.

© 2026 Hourpip. Screens show fictional demo data.