What the permit requires, and what it obliges
A study permit is not a visa and not a status you keep by paying tuition. It is a permit issued on conditions, and the conditions are enforced by twice yearly reporting from your institution.
- Acceptance at a designated institution, verified at source. Since 1 December 2023 a post secondary institution must confirm your acceptance letter directly to the department. Between that date and 6 October 2024 the department verified almost 529,000 letters, confirmed nearly 492,000 as valid, and found more than 17,000 that did not match anything the institution had issued or had been cancelled. That is a small proportion and a large number, and it is why the check exists.
- Designation is provincial, not federal. Provinces and territories designate institutions and can remove that designation. Check the school against the government's list of designated learning institutions before committing to anything, because that list also shows whether the specific program supports a post graduation work permit. All primary and secondary schools are designated automatically and do not appear on it.
- The money, without working. The Regulations require resources sufficient to pay tuition, maintain yourself and any accompanying family, and pay travel both ways, all without working in Canada.
- The intention to leave at the end of the authorised stay. This is the requirement that refuses most applications, and it is assessed on your circumstances as a whole.
- Enrol, stay enrolled, and make progress. Two conditions sit in the Regulations, being enrolment at the named institution until you finish and actively pursuing your studies. The department reads the second as being enrolled full time or part time in each academic semester, making demonstrable progress, and taking no authorised leave beyond 150 days. It publishes three further conditions alongside them, being that you apply to extend the permit in order to change post secondary institution, that you end your studies if you no longer meet the requirements of being a student, and that you leave Canada when the permit expires.
- Breaching the conditions can cost you six months. As well as the permit. You may have to wait six months before applying for a new study permit, and before applying for a work permit or a visitor visa from inside Canada.
Working while you study
| What is permitted | |
|---|---|
| Off campus, during an academic session | Twenty four hours a week. The figure sits in the Regulations rather than in policy, and it rose from twenty on 15 November 2024. Working beyond it breaches your conditions and can cost you your status and future permits. |
| Off campus, during a scheduled break | Full time, where the break is scheduled by your school and lasts at least seven consecutive days. Two further caps apply that are easy to miss. Unlimited hours are capped at 180 days across a calendar year, and where consecutive breaks run past 150 days you may only work during the first 150. |
| On campus | Permitted while you are a full time student at that institution, with no stated hourly cap. |
| A required work placement | No separate permit needed for a post secondary student since 1 April 2026. You still need the on campus work condition printed on your study permit, a letter from your institution confirming the placement is a program requirement, a valid permit or one extended in time, and full time enrolment. The placement must be a genuine program requirement and must not exceed half the program. Secondary level students still need a permit. |
| Who cannot work off campus at all | Students taking only English or French as a second language, only general interest courses, or only prerequisites for admission. The program must be at least six months long and lead to a degree, diploma or certificate. You also cannot work off campus before your studies begin, while you are on an authorised leave, or while you are switching institutions and not currently studying. The leave bar applies even where your permit says you may work. |
| Remote work for an employer outside Canada | Does not count towards the twenty four hours. |
You need a social insurance number, and the work condition has to be printed on your permit. Keep a record of hours worked, meaning any time spent earning wages or collecting commission, because the obligation to stay inside the limit is yours.
The hours you work while studying do not build the experience that leads to permanent residence. Experience gained while studying full time, including a co-op placement, is expressly not counted for the Canadian Experience Class. Working during your studies is worth doing for the money and the reference, and it does not shorten the road afterwards.
Changing institution or program
In force 8 November 2024 · verified 19 August 2026
You cannot move to a new institution on your existing permit
A new study permit must be applied for and approved before you begin at the new institution, and since 22 January 2025 that application needs a new attestation letter unless you are exempt. Starting at the new school first puts you in breach of the condition to be enrolled at the institution named in your permit.
There is one exception that lets you start while the application is pending, and it is narrow. You must not have left Canada since receiving the new acceptance letter, you must still meet the conditions of your existing permit, and the change must be because your former institution closed, discontinued the program, was placed on the suspension list, or lost its designated status.
- Changing program or level at the same institution is easier, but check what counts as a level change. You may keep studying on your current permit if it remains valid and its conditions do not prevent it, and if an extension is needed you may start the new program while the decision is pending, stopping immediately if it is refused. A change of level of study needs a new attestation letter in most cases, and the department defines that narrowly as moving from secondary to post secondary, or from a graduate program back to post secondary. A move from a diploma to a bachelor's degree, or from a bachelor's to a master's, stays within the post secondary level and is not a level change on that definition.
- Moving from secondary to post secondary needs a new permit. But you may continue at the post secondary level while the decision is pending, even where the permit says primary or secondary school.
- If your institution is suspended or loses designation. You may keep studying until your current permit expires, you cannot extend it to start a new program there, and you can apply to extend in order to change institution.
- Changing institution while an application is already in progress. Send the new acceptance letter and attestation letter through the department's web form. If the application has already been approved and you are outside Canada, it means a fresh application and fresh fees.
Your spouse and your children
| Position | |
|---|---|
| Spouse or partner, open work permit | Available only where your program is a master's of sixteen months or longer, a doctorate, one of the listed professional degrees, or a named pilot program. Restricted on 21 January 2025 from a far broader entitlement. |
| The listed professional degrees | Dentistry, law, medicine, optometry, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, nursing, education and engineering, in the specific degree designations the department names. |
| How long the spousal permit lasts | Usually the same period as your study permit, and it cannot extend beyond it. |
| Extending a spousal permit already held | Tested more generously. You need a valid study permit, full time enrolment in a program eligible for the post graduation work permit, you must be physically in Canada or about to be while studying, and you must not be in your final term. |
| If you are moving onto a post graduation work permit | Your spouse does not qualify on the strength of it until a positive decision has been made, and then they are assessed as the spouse of a worker rather than of a student, which is a different test. You must be working in an occupation at TEER 0 or 1, or in one of the listed TEER 2 or 3 occupations, and your permit must have at least sixteen months of validity left when they apply. |
| Minor children in Canada | A child already in Canada attending preschool, primary or secondary school, accompanied by a parent authorised to work or study, does not need their own permit, but must hold valid visitor status throughout. |
| Children who are no longer minors | A child who reaches the age of majority in the province where they live, which is 18 or 19 depending on the province, must apply for their own study permit to continue studying. That is a separate question from whether they remain your dependent child for immigration purposes, and the two use different ages, which is why we confirm both for each family. |
A child studying without a permit must apply for one on reaching the age of majority in order to continue, which is a practical reason to obtain one from the outset.
If it is refused
There is no appeal from a study permit refusal. Saying so plainly matters, because the word appeal is used loosely and the two things actually available work quite differently.
- No formal appeal exists. The department states that there is no formal process to appeal a decision on a temporary residence application. Nothing goes to the Immigration Appeal Division.
- A fresh application, if something has genuinely changed. The department's own guidance is to reapply only where your situation has changed significantly or you have new information that addresses the reason for refusal. Filing the same application again is not a strategy.
- A refusal uses up your attestation letter. You cannot reapply on the same letter once an application has been approved or refused. You need a new one, from the current year's allocation, which in a capped year is a real constraint rather than a formality.
- Leave and judicial review in the Federal Court. Available where the decision is unreasonable or there was an error of law or of fairness. It tests the decision rather than rehearing the merits, and it has its own deadlines, so it is time sensitive from the date you are notified.
- A refusal is not always the end of entering Canada. A person refused a study permit may still be admissible as a visitor, which is sometimes the useful next step while a plan is rebuilt.
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Study permit, including extensions, per person | $150 |
| Restore your status as a student and get a new permit | $396.25 |
| Restoration of status alone | $246.25 |
| Work permit, including extensions | $155 |
| Open work permit holder fee | $100 |
| Post graduation work permit, in total | $255 |
| Biometrics, per person | $85 |
| Biometrics, family of two or more applying together | $170 maximum |
| Co-op work permit | No fee, and not required for post secondary students from 1 April 2026 |
The processing fee is not refunded once processing has begun, whatever the decision. Two situations do return money. An application filed without a required attestation letter is returned and the fee refunded, and an extension is returned with the fee refunded where the institution does not validate your enrolment in time.
Requirements checker
A structured way to see where you stand against the published criteria. It returns an indication only, not an eligibility decision, not legal advice, and not a prediction that you will be invited.
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An indication against the published requirements only, not an eligibility decision, not legal advice, and not a prediction of approval. The requirement that decides most refusals, being whether an officer is satisfied you will leave at the end of your authorised stay, is a judgement on your whole situation and cannot be tested by a form. Verified 19 August 2026 against canada.ca and the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations.