Menu
When the idea of studying in another country (like Canada) appears in your mind, you don’t necessarily think about every detail. Sure, the first thing you think is WHERE to move to live, study and work, WHAT to study and HOW MUCH it will cost. But after you sort all that out, you still need to have the government’s permission to study. It’s part of the process, and a crucial one.
Without a Study Permit, you won’t be allowed to enter the country at the airport or at the borders.
This is a small guide to make this process a little easier for you:
The study permit is a document issued by the Canadian government that allows foreign nationals to study at designated learning institutions in Canada.
You can come to Canada to study if you:
The best way to apply to Canada as an international student is through Canada.ca’s IRCC website. The whole process can be made online at https://www.cic.gc.ca/
First, you must create a Canada.ca IRCC account here:
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/account.html
We recommend you create a GCKey account.
To create your account, accept the Terms and Conditions, enter your information and create your Security questions and answers.
Some things to remember:
You must have:
You should start your application as soon as you get the Letter of Acceptance from CIRA College. It can take up to 3 months to get a study permit, depending on the country where you are applying.
You need these documents to apply for a study permit:
Check the formats the documents must be sent in:
For every Study Permit, there’s a Fee of $150
Biometrics: $85
Minimum funds needed to support yourself as a student: CAN$10,000*
*BUT you don’t need to PAY that money, you just have to show you or a relative has them. Bank statements are the way to go to show proof of funds. If you end up using them or not, that’s another story).
Third-party fees: you may have to pay for medical exams, police certificates, language testing and document translations if IRCC asks for such documents.
To avoid processing delays, pay your biometric fees at the same time as your application processing fees, using the same method of payment.
It varies by country. You can check your expected times here https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/check-processing-times.html
In your case, you should fill the questions with these options:
To check the status of your application, check here
https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/application/check-status.html
See you soon in our classroom in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada!
