Study in Canada

STUDY IN CANADA

In order to immigrate to Canada and obtain Permanent Residence, individuals need to Study in Canada, complete a diploma, then work 1 year on a Post Graduate Work Permit.

It is extremely important to ensure to attend a school that is eligible for the Post Graduate Work Permit (PGWP). Not all Designated Learning Institutions (DLI schools) are eligible. If an individual attends a private institution that is not eligible for a PGWP, not only will the individual not be eligible for a work permit after they graduate, they will also not be able to get an Open Work Permit for their spouse that is accompanying them to Canada.

YOUR OPTIONS AS A STUDENT IN CANADA

Obtain a student Visa or Study Permit
Work while you study
Post-Graduate Work Permit
Bring Family to Canada while studying
Spouse/Common Law Partner Open Work Permit

Student Visa

To apply for a Canada Student Visa (study permit), students must first enroll and be accepted to study at a Canadian educational institution. Students who wish to obtain a Canada student visa may apply at the Canadian visa office that is responsible for their country of residence.

Foreign students who have applied for and been accepted into a Designated Learning Institution (DLI) may apply for a Canada Student Visa in order to come to Canada and complete the specific program for which they have been accepted. You must have received an acceptance letter from the designated institution which you plan to attend before you submit your application for a Canada student visa.

Additionally, you must meet the following requirements for a Canada student visa:

You must be able to prove that you have enough money to pay for your: tuition fees, living expenses for yourself and any family members who accompany you, return transportation for you and any family members who accompany you.
You must be a law-abiding citizen with no criminal record.
You must be in good health and willing to complete a medical examination, if necessary.
You must satisfy an immigration officer that you will leave Canada when you have completed your studies.

Work while you study

Students enrolled in a full-time program may work on-campus or off-campus without a work permit. Certain conditions apply, depending on the location of work, and type of program the student is enrolled in.

Post-Graduation Work Permit

Once you have graduated from an eligible program at a Canadian post-secondary institution, you may qualify to apply for the Post-Graduation Work Permit Program. This program offers graduates a three year open work permit which will allow you to earn valuable work experience. You do not need to have a job offer to get an open work permit.

Additionally, Canada allows foreign students who have completed their studies in Canada and have gained a certain amount of work experience within Canada to apply for immigration to Canada under the Canadian Experience Class (CEC).

Bringing Family to Canada

You may bring your spouse, common-law partner, and dependent children to Canada to be with you while you study. Your spouse or common-law partner will receive an Open Work Permit for the duration of your studies. The open work permit will allow your spouse or partner to work for any employer within Canada.

Spouse/Common-law partner Open Work Permit

Spouses/Common-law Partners of International students studying in Canada are eligible to apply for an Open Work Permit which allows them to work for any employer in Canada in any job. The duration of the work permit will be the same as the spouse's study permit (visa).

Studying in Canada is another pathway to obtain PR

If you currently do not have enough CRS points to be selected for PR, you still have the option to come to Canada and study. If you (or your spouse) enrol in a 2 year college or university program, the student can work 20 hours a week while in school, and full-time during school breaks (4 months a year during the summer holiday). The spouse of a student can get a work permit and work in any job in Canada. If you have children, they can accompany you and go to school in Canada for free. If you come to Canada and start a family while you are studying, your children automatically become Canadian citizens if born in Canada. After graduating from a 2 year program, the student and spouse can both get a 3 year work permit to work in Canada.

Candidates that choose to study in Canada have many options to apply for PR. Their spouse can apply for PR through a PNP program after working in a skilled job for 6 months in Manitoba province or 1 year in Alberta, Saskatchewan, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, while their spouse is still in school. A student can apply for PR after they graduate if they have enough points, or they can work for 1 year and apply for PR under a PNP program or Canadian Experience Class.

Additional CRS points are awarded for:

Graduating from a Canadian school (15 - 30 points)
Having a skilled job in Canada (50 points)
Working in Canada (points are awarded for each year you work in Canada: 35 - 80 points)

The financial requirements to study in Canada starts at $30,000 for 1 person (first year tuition + $10,000 for living expenses), and for each additional family member that accompanies you to Canada, you must have an additional $3,000 per person.

If you do not have the funds yourself, you can get a letter from a family member stating their intention to support you financially, along with their financial documents.

Candidates who are eager to come to Canada with their family, should consider studying as an option. School programs typically start in September and January each year, but there are some programs that start every 2 months. Students can come to Canada 1 - 1.5 months before their program starts, and their family can accompany them.

There are many schools and programs to choose from; some have IELTS 5, 6 or 7 as a requirement for admission, while others provide an English study program first, followed by the diploma program.

Need Help?

Visa Refusal: Reasons for being Denied

Reasons for refusing a Student Visa to Canada

Study Permits are refused often when individuals apply on their own, as a strong case was not made to convince the visa officer to approve the visa.

Citizens from visa-required countries must ensure a strong application is prepared in order to convince the visa officer they are a good candidate for a Student Visa. Visa-required countries have been flagged by Canadian Immigration, and citizens from these countries must go through a much more rigorous screening process than citizens from visa-exempt counties. Every Student, Worker, or Visitor from a visa-required country requires a TRV visa in their passport (travel authorization) before they are allowed to board a plane and travel to Canada. When a candidate applies for a Student Visa, they will be automatically issued a TRV visa as well.

The Student Visa application process is a lengthy one. The application requires detailed personal and family information. In addition, many documents must be provided to strengthen and support the application. Unlike US visas that have an interview, Canada's screening process is only done by a paper application with no interview. It is extremely important to prepare a strong application as the immigration officers can make a decision based on the information provided in the application.

Many individuals do not understand the process and there is a high rate of refusal when an individual applies on their own. Normally, when an application is submitted after one or more refusals, it should extensively address all the previous refusal reasons, otherwise an officer may refuse the application again.

Reasons for Refusal:

Study Plan: Without a detailed and logical study plan, the officer will not be convinced the main purpose of coming to Canada is to study. There must be a logical progression of studying if a person already has previous post-graduate education or work experience. The choice of program in Canada must make sense for the student, or a proper explanation must be given how their diploma in Canada will help them when they return to their home country. This is the most common reason for refusal.
Proof of Finances: The Canadian government wants to ensure a student has the financial support to pay for their tuition and living expenses. The required funds are 1st year tuition (as per the admission letter) + $20,635 for living expenses for the student, $4,000 for accompanying spouse + $3,000 per child.
Lack of Travel History: If a person has not traveled anywhere outside of their home country before, they will be refused a visa if they apply on their own. Our firm can overcome this reason by making legal arguments and referencing a Federal Court Case in the application.
Strong Family Ties to Canada: Surprisingly, having family members in Canada can be a reason for refusal, and individuals applying on their own can be refused. Our firm can overcome this reason by making legal arguments and referencing a Federal Court Case in the application.
Lack of evidentiary documents
Illegal Status in Country of Residence
Lack of Employment Prospects in Home Country: if student is older
Current Employment Situation: if student is older
Personal Assets
Documents that do not appear authentic
History of overstaying status on a previous visit to Canada
Other Reasons - Refusal on grounds of inadmissibility:
- Criminality (having previously been charged with a crime)
- Misrepresentation (having misrepresented information to Canada immigration previously and received a ban)
- Previous Deportation: For overstaying visit illegally
- Medical Inadmissibility: Have a contagious disease that is a threat to Canadians
- Human Rights Violations: Previously served in the military for a country that has been deemed to have participated in war crimes. Additional documents must be provided to overcome this inadmissibility.

When an application is prepared by a lawyer, immigration officer may pay more attention when assessing an application. The main reason being is that the visa officers respect that immigration lawyers are extremely knowledgeable with the immigration laws and understand that proper due process and procedural fairness must be followed. Otherwise, a lawyer will challenge the visa officer's decision via judicial review. If a visa officer is refusing an application, they must justify the refusal based on the facts presented in the application. If a strong case was presented by a lawyer and the visa officer still refuses the application, this scenario would be worthy for judicial review. The visa offices and IRCC do not like to waste time and resources with the Judicial Review process. If a strong application is presented by a lawyer and no grounds to justify a refusal, they would rather approve the Student Visa then face a Judicial Review.

Working While Studying

International students with a valid study permit may work while studying in Canada without a work permit. Spouses/Common-law partners of foreign students can also work in Canada while their spouse is studying. The spouse can apply for an Open Work Permit which allows them to work in any job without restriction.

Work On-Campus

Full-time students who are enrolled at an institution may work at that institution's campus in any job without a work permit. Students may work at more than one campus of an institution, provided that they are in the same municipality. Students may be enrolled in any course to be eligible.

The permitted institutions are:

Universities
Community Colleges
CEGEPs
Publicly Funded trade/technical schools
Private Institutions authorized by provincial statute to confer degrees

In order to be eligible to work on-campus, international students must:

Hold a valid Study Permit
Be a full-time student

Note: International students must stop working on-campus on the day they no longer meet the above eligibility requirements

Working Off-Campus

Foreign students may qualify to work off-campus without a work permit. This will allow them to:

work up to 20 hours per week during regular academic sessions and
work full-time during scheduled breaks, such as the winter and summer holidays or spring break.

In order to be eligible to work off campus, international students must:

Hold a valid Study Permit;
Be studying at a designated learning institution, at the post-secondary level or, in Quebec, a vocational program at the secondary level
Remain in satisfactory academic standing as determined by their institution
Be studying in an academic, vocational or professional training program that leads to a degree, diploma or certificate that is at least six months in duration.

Note: International students in Canada must stop working on the day they no longer meet the above eligibility requirements

The following international students are not eligible to work off-campus:

Students enrolled in an English as a Second Language or French as a Second Language program;
Students taking a general interest course or program; and
Visiting or exchange students at a designated learning institution.

Working Off-Campus - certain cases

Students working as graduate, research or teaching assistants may work off campus at locations related to their research grants. These locations must have a formal association or affiliation with the learning institution. This may include hospitals, clinics and research institutes.

Co-op Work Permits

International students pursuing a study program at a Designated Learning Institution (DLI) in Canada that requires a mandatory work placement, or internship must apply for a co-op work permit in addition to a Canadian Study Permit.

Post Graduate Work Permit

Once an international student graduates, they can apply for a Post-Graduate Work Permit which is an Open Work Permit, allowing them to work in ANY job, without restrictions. An LMIA or a confirmation of job offer are not needed to apply for a Post Graduate Work Permit.

In order to be eligible for a Post Graduate Work Permit you must:

apply for a work permit within 90 days of receiving written confirmation (for example, a transcript or an official letter) from your institution indicating that you have met the requirements for completing your academic program.
have completed and passed the program of study and received a notification that you are eligible to obtain your degree, diploma or certificate.
have a valid study permit when you apply for the work permit.

Need Help?

ELIGIBILITY FOR A POST GRADUATION WORK PERMIT

(PGWP)

International students who complete a post-secondary education in Canada are eligible to apply for a Post Graduate Work Permit. This permit is an Open Work Permit allowing them to work in ANY job, without restrictions. An LMIA or a confirmation of job offer are not needed to apply for a Post Graduate Work Permit.

Once they have completed their studies in an eligible program or school international graduates can apply for a Post-Graduation Work Permit, which allows them to work in Canada. It is extremely important to choose the right school to study, to ensure you are eligible for the Post Graduate Work Permit.

Before making an application for a student visa, you must find out if your intended school or Program is eligible for a Postgraduate Work Permit.

It is very important to select the correct institution and program, otherwise, you may not be eligible for a work permit after you graduate. Not all DLI (Designated Learning Institutions) are eligible for a PGWP.

Without a Student Visa being approved, you will not be able to come to Canada to Study. Our firm can help prepare and submit a Student Visa application to ensure you can come to Canada and Study. Avoid a refusal contact us today.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for a Post-Graduation Work Permit, international students must:

have studied full-time for the eight months preceding the completion of their program and must have graduated from one of the following:
- a public post-secondary educational institution (university, college, or CEGEP)
- a private post-secondary educational institution that operates under the same rules and regulations as public institutions, and receives at least 50 per cent of its financing for operations from government grants
- a Canadian private educational institution authorized by provincial or territorial statute to confer degrees
have completed and passed the program of study and received written notification that they are eligible to obtain their degree, diploma, or certificate
apply for a work permit within 90 days of receiving written confirmation (for example, a transcript or an official letter) from your institution indicating that you have met the requirements for completing your academic program.
apply for a work permit while holding a valid study permit, (you must have a valid study permit), or held a valid study permit previously within 180 days of applying for the PGWP. *You must have valid status, otherwise you must restore your status and apply for PGWP.

Important to note: If your post graduate work permit was refused, you will need to restore your status within 90 days of receiving the refusal. You must also stop working. If you are outside of the 90 day restoration period, our firm may still be able to help you in certain circumstances using case law from Federal Court. Contact our office to discuss further and learn how we can help in this situation.

Potential applicants should note that:

the program of study must be a minimum of two years for the graduate to obtain the three year work permit. However, if the program was less than two years but longer than eight months, the graduate can still obtain a work permit for the same duration as the program of study. In cases where a student has obtained a one year degree or diploma from an accredited educational institution within two years of having successfully completed a previous accredited Canadian post-secondary degree or diploma, he or she may qualify for a three-year open work permit
while a student must have been studying full time in the eight months preceding the date of application for an open work permit, an exception is made in the case where a student fulfills all the requirements except full time study in the last session of their program. For example, if a student only needs two courses in the final session to complete the program but all previous study has been full time, the student may still apply for the Post-Graduate Work Permit Program.

Need Help?

Study in Canada

Study in Canada

Ask Us Anything

Visit us

Contact us

Emergency call