Please note: The college staff at International Student Services cannot advise on immigration requirements. However, we can direct you to the relevant information (below).

Being Compliant
If you have a study permit, it is extremely important to remember that you are expected to actively pursue your studies and make reasonable progress toward completion.

On this page you can apply for the following options and process

1- Option One. (Study Permit Extension)

Suppose you, a current cancollege.ca student, have a study permit expiring before the completion of your study. In that case, you can request the college provide recommended documentation supporting your study permit extension application to complete the program and graduation.

2- Option Two. (Finished Study at cancollege.ca and enrolled in a new program)

If you are a current college student who has completed or is close to completing the study program and you wish to continue studying in a new program, you can apply for a new admission at a college. If approved, cancollege will provide your documentation to support your study permit application for another one-year term so that you can continue to study without leaving Canada. Upon completing the study, you can apply for a close work permit and transition from student to foreign worker without leaving Canada.

It is recommended that you start the extension process 30 days before the expiry date of your study permit. Remember, you cannot extend your study permit beyond your passport’s expiry date, so make sure your travel documents are in order.

In case your study permit has already expired, please remember that you cannot study until your student status has been restored.

However, if you apply before your permit expires, you can stay in Canada under the same conditions as your current study permit until you receive a decision from the IRCC.

How to extend your study permit from inside Canada

About the process.
You can submit an inside Canada application to extend your study permit (or apply for your first study permit) if you are physically present in Canada and you meet one of the following conditions:

You have a valid study permit, or
You have a valid work permit.
You are already in Canada as an exchange or visiting student.
You otherwise meet the conditions to apply for a study permit from inside Canada (see “Who may apply for a study permit from within Canada?”)

The expiry date on your study permit tells you when you must stop studying and leave Canada.

You can find the expiry date in the top right corner of your permit. This date is usually the length of your study program, plus 90 days. The extra 90 days gives you time to prepare to leave Canada or to extend your stay in Canada.

If you wish to extend your study permit to another term of full-time study from Can-College, follow the following steps.

Step One.

Apply for new admission. New acceptance letter: Students must apply and acquire a new acceptance letter to continue their studies.

Use this link, select a new program that you wish to study, and apply for admission.
After submitting the new application, you will receive an email with a new student reference number.
Save and make a note of this new reference number.

Important Note:
To bet a new LOA,you will need to use a different email account not associated with the current student profile in our LMS.
You do not need to complete step two instructions after applying, which requires uploading additional documents. Since we already have your profile and documents, we can use them when assessing your admission application.

For current Can-College Students whose student permits will expire before program completion, skip Step One and go straight to Step Two.

Step Two

Once step one is completed.

Use this link or button and submit your request for documentation from cancollege.ca to support your IRCC in Canada Study Permit Application.

You will require the following documents attached to this online form.

New LOA. If you already have our college’s LOA issued to you in a new program and it is still valid, select the option “Admission applied, pending for assessment."
A copy of your valid passport
And current study permit or work permit.

Once we receive your complete form with all required documents or information, we will expedite your admission application, and if approved, you will receive a new admission offer and an invoice for LOA fee and first tuition fee installment. You will have 30 days to accept the new admission offer and pay the fees. Once we receive the fees, we will start working on the document package to support IRCC within the Canada Study Permit Ext Application.

Step Three. IRCC Online Application.

Read the IRCC Instruction Guide for current students before you start the application process.

To start the Eligibility Questionnaire:

The Study Permit extension application can only be submitted from inside Canada. The process can be summarized in the following four steps:

Step 1: Initiate your application.

Log into your IRCC account. If you do not have an IRCC account, you can follow the link to create one.
Once logged in, scroll down and click on “Apply to Come to Canada.”
Under “I do not have a Personal Reference Code”, click on “Determine your eligibility and apply online”, then click on “Visitor visa, study and/or work permit.”

Step 2: Complete the Eligibility questionnaire.
Step 3: Gather and upload all documents. See the “Documents” tab.
Step 4: Pay the application fee of $150 and submit. If you are required to complete your Biometrics, the Biometric fee is $85.

To start the Eligibility Questionnaire:

Log into your IRCC account.
On the main account page, scroll down and click on “Apply to Come to Canada.”
Under “I do not have a Personal Reference Code”, click on “Determine your eligibility and apply online”, then click on “Visitor visa, study and/or work permit.”

RESPONDING TO ELIGIBILITY QUESTIONNAIRE

This will initiate the following Eligibility Questionnaire:

What would you like to do in Canada? Study
How long are you planning to stay in Canada? Temporarily – more than 6 months
What is your current country/territory of residence? If you are presently in Canada, you should select Canada. *NOTE: You cannot apply for a Study Permit extension from outside Canada.
Family Member questions Click on hyperlink for definition of a family member.
On the “Your results” page select “Study Permit (in Canada)”
Do you also want to apply for a work permit? Answer "NO" if you are enrolled in the cancollege.ca program. (Our programs do not have such requirement for co-op work study)
Review your answers to modify responses click on the “pencil & eraser” icon!

IRCC Required Documents:

Passport

Current Passport (personal information page and any pages with stamps and visas)
Valid Study Permit or Work Permit (if available)

Letter of Acceptance (New continued program)

Confirmation of Enrolment in the new program.
Confirmation of Graduation letter or proof of graduation in the past-old program. (Graduation certificate, transcripts, college account statement).

Proof of Finances

Bank Statements, proof of tuition payment made to the college, pay stubs from your part-time employer. All documents - merged in 1 PDF file

Digital Photo

A scan or digital version or selfie of a passport size photo.

Proof of medical exam (Optional and if applicable):

A medical exam may be required depending on your country of residence in the past 12 months and your program of study. Your medical exam results are valid for 12 months once it is done. It is not mandatory to have one, if required IRCC will contact you later.

Optional Document:

Client Information

Letter of explanation – While this is an optional document, we recommend all students to write one. To summarize their application and to share any information with the visa officer that was not addressed via the documents and/or application forms.

General Q A A

These enrolment statuses are considered “actively pursuing studies.

You cannot apply for a study permit extension from outside Canada, you can only apply for a new permit.

As of Jan 22, 2024, new study permit applications require a Provincial Attestation Letter (PAL) from the province. If you are a current student, your study permit validity and study permit extension application from inside Canada will not be impacted.

Expiry Date of Current Study Permit
As an international student in Canada, the expiry date on your study permit tells you when you need to stop studying and leave Canada. This date is usually equal to the length of your study program, plus 90 days. The extra 90 days gives you time to prepare to leave Canada or to extend your stay in Canada.

Note that the 90-day period begins from the date that you receive official notice from your institution that you have completed the program.

What if my study permit expires before my extension application is approved?

If you apply to extend your study permit from inside of Canada before it expires through the IRCC secure account, you will benefit from maintained status after your study permit expires. While under maintained status, you can continue to study and work while your application is being processed.

If you leave Canada while on maintained status, you will lose this status and will not be authorized to resume studying or working until you have a valid study permit. Make sure you have the required travel documents to return to Canada.

See Immigration Canada’s website for information about the consequences of travelling outside of Canada while in maintained status.