Immigration Frequently Asked Questions

You may apply for a study permit when you enter Canada if you are a:

• U.S. citizen
• U.S. permanent resident
• Person who has lawfully been admitted to the U.S. for permanent residence
• Resident of Greenland
• Resident of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon

Find out which documents you will need to apply. Make sure to include them with your application at the POE.

Note: In order to apply for a study permit at an air POE, a lawful permanent resident of the U.S. travelling to Canada must apply and obtain an eTA before boarding their flight to Canada.

The LOA verification process does not apply to study permit applications submitted and processed at the POE. If the CBSA officer at the POE has any concerns regarding your Offer of Admission/Letter of Acceptance, they may contact the University of Alberta directly to verify your acceptance.

Have the contact information for the Student Services Centre handy so that the office of the registrar can verify your admission.

Even if you are eligible to apply for a study permit at the Port of Entry, we advise students to apply for study permits online and enter Canada after their online application gets approved to avoid any issues or delays with receiving a study permit at the Port of Entry. You must provide all required documents to the CBSA officer to receive a study permit.

It is possible to study in Canada for less than six months without a Study Permit. The program must be completed within the original period authorized for your stay when you entered Canada (usually six months). If you are from a visa-exempt country, you must apply for an eTA . If you are from a visa-required country you must apply for a visitor visa (Temporary Resident Visa - TRV).

If you originally attended UAlberta for one term without a study permit (e.g., exchange and visiting students) but now want to extend your studies for another term, you will be able to apply for a study permit from within Canada (refer to the Study Permit Extension information to learn more).

Once your application is approved, you can expect to receive an eTA or visa (as applicable) in addition to your Letter of Introduction confirming that your study permit application has been approved. 

You will need to present this letter to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officer at the Port of Entry when you first enter. Your study permit will then be issued to you.

We recommend you carefully review the information on your issued study permit. Make sure there are no errors in your personal information. Let the CBSA officer know if you find any errors.

If you have been admitted to a degree-seeking program, you should also verify that your study permit has been issued with the work authorization remarks: “may work” or “may accept employment.” If it doesn’t, you should let the officer know that you will need these remarks printed on the study permit to be eligible to apply for a SIN and work part-time during your full-time studies. This is especially important if you are a graduate student and will be getting paid by your department. Without a SIN, your stipend may be delayed.

We recommend you review IRCC’s Prepare for Arrival page and our Travel to Canada page to better prepare for your entry to Canada.  

Your study permit is an IRCC-issued document to prove your status when applying for services and other benefits such as the SIN. 

As such this document must not be altered in any way. 

IRCC states that status-issued documents (such as your study permit) cannot be:

• used for travel on its own (eTA or visa is also needed)
• used as an identity document
• laminated or altered in any way (altered or laminated documents are no longer valid)

To learn more click here.

We recommend that you take a picture of the ID pages in your passport, and a picture of your study permit should you need to retrieve information from them.

If you would like to submit a new application to IRCC, you must address the concerns raised by the IRCC Processing Officer. When submitting your new application, you must include an explanation letter addressing the refusal reasons mentioned on the IRCC refusal letter.

Please carefully review the information on our Study Permit web page and prepare your application accordingly.

If you would like to seek assistance from an International Student Specialist with your application, Submit an inquiry via the ISVS Contact Form

When submitting the inquiry, you must include the following:

• Your University of Alberta email address
• Indicate what your inquiry is about in the “Subject” section; in this case, “Study Permit Refusal”)
• Enter a detailed description of your issue in the “Message” section including the country of residence and your program of study
• Upload ALL the documents you submitted to IRCC as part of your study permit application including the refusal letter and the offer of admission. We recommend you do not send your documents as a zip file; rather attach the documents you used separately to your form.

Once you submit the above information, an International Student Specialist will review and respond.

Please note: Specialists will need about 15 business days to complete the review and prepare relevant feedback. As a result, if there is a possibility you may not receive a decision on your second application before your program start date, you are advised to defer your start date to a later time if that is an option.

Graduate students: Advised to discuss this with the supervisor/department to understand the deferral process.

Undergraduate students: Advised to contact the Student Service Centre to understand the options available.

If you are physically outside Canada, and your program allows you to register online during your first term of study, you do not require a valid study permit or study permit approval to start your program remotely.

Notes:

• If you are physically inside Canada as a Visitor, you are not authorized to start studying until you possess a valid Study Permit, even if the courses you will be enrolled in are offered online.
• If you are physically inside Canada as a worker and your work permit meets the eligibility requirements listed under the temporary public policy announced in June 2023, you may be eligible to study without a study permit. You are advised to connect with an advisor to determine whether a study permit will be needed.

If you have the option to start your program online before a decision has been made on your study permit application, please note:

• Starting your program before receiving final approval will not guarantee that your study permit application will get full approval.
• For detailed information on the temporary measure that allows students to count time spent studying online from outside Canada towards the length of their Post Graduation Work Permit (PGWP), please visit the IRCC website here 
• If your study permit is refused, you can apply again. 
• For students who started their program online, a study permit is required to complete the in-person components of their program. If you are not able to obtain a study permit, you will need to withdraw from your program.
• Please note that it is the student/applicant's responsibility to inform the University if your study permit is refused and you need to withdraw from classes and initiate any tuition and fees refunds.

Students who do not have a final decision on their study permit application in time for their program start date should seek alternate options. Please be aware of registration and tuition payment deadlines as you consider your options.

Graduate Students: contact your department/program coordinator to understand the process and deadline to request a deferral of the start of your program.

Undergraduate Students: Contact your faculty advisor for available options regarding deferring your start date.

If deferral is not an option, you will need to submit a new admission application to your program of choice for the next available intake. Deadlines to submit admission applications can be found here.

We also advise students whose study permit application has exceeded the posted processing time, to submit an IRCC web form to inquire about the status of their application.

If you have any questions about a refund for tuition fee payments, please contact the Student Service Centre. 

Contact the University of Alberta Residence Services at housing@ualberta.ca if you need to cancel your housing offer or update your application for your new planned arrival.

The University of Alberta does not contact IRCC on behalf of individual students to expedite the processing of their applications; however, we continue to actively monitor and advocate on behalf of all students who are affected by processing delays.

Graduate Students: if you deferred to a later start date and your study permit application is still under process, you are advised to submit a copy of your updated admission letter to IRCC via an IRCC web form. If your deferral is processed after your study permit application has been approved, you do not need to inform IRCC; however, you will be expected to have your updated offer of admission at the time of entry to Canada.

Undergraduate students who receive admission to start in the Fall semester and defer their start until the Winter term: if you receive a request from IRCC to provide an updated Offer of Admission (Letter of Acceptance), ensure you are registered in your upcoming Winter term classes and request a Verification of Enrollment through BearTracks. You can then provide this with a brief explanation that the University doesn’t issue new acceptance letters since your offer of admission gives you the option to start in either Fall or Winter terms.

A two-year cap was put in place on the number of new study permits by Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). To implement the cap, most study permit applications submitted to IRCC require a Provincial Attestation Letter(PAL) from a province or territory. Since the PAL requirement was implemented in January 2024, additional changes were announced in September 2024. 

As part of the Study Permit application, applicants are required to submit a Letter of Acceptance (LOA) to IRCC. Designated learning institutions (DLIs) in Canada (i.e. Post-secondary institutions) are required to verify the LOA of all post-secondary study permit applications. This process is called the LOA verification process.

Students are not required to complete any additional steps to initiate the LOA verification process. Once you have successfully submitted your Study Permit application to IRCC using the Letter of Acceptance/Offer of Admission issued by the University of Alberta, the Registrar’s Office at the University of Alberta will receive a notification to verify the letter of acceptance you submitted to IRCC as part of your application. The LOA Verification process and the PAL process are different. Read more about the PAL process here.

• The Provincial government is responsible for administering the PAL process. If you are not exempt from the PAL requirement, this process must be completed before you submit your Study Permit application to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and you must submit your PAL to IRCC along with your Letter of Acceptance when applying for Study Permit. For University of Alberta students, the PAL process is administered by the Province of Alberta; details are here.
• Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) is responsible for administering the LOA Verification process. Students are not required to take additional steps to initiate this process.

Ideally, you want to plan to enter at least 2-3 weeks before the start of classes to allow you to get settled. When to enter Canada will depend on flight and accommodation availability.

There is no set time frame for you to arrive in Canada before you begin your studies. However, you should just arrive to give yourself a reasonable amount of time to prepare before you start your program. 

You are not allowed to work on or off campus until you begin your studies in Canada. Students will still need to provide evidence to demonstrate that they have the means to support themselves as a temporary resident in Canada.

To better prepare for your entry to Canada, we recommend you read our Travel to Canada information and IRCC’s “Study permit: Prepare for arrival.”

As long as you have been issued the Letter of Introduction that confirms your study permit has been approved, you can present this document to the Canada Border Services Officer at the first airport you land, anywhere in Canada, and your study permit will be issued to you at that location.

The study permit extension application and the visa application are two separate processes. You must apply for the study permit extension first before the expiry date of your permit. We strongly encourage you to apply 3-4 months before the expiry date.

For information on extending your student status, visit our Study Permit Extension page.

Once you receive your extended study permit, you can proceed with the visa application.
For more information about the visa application process visit our TRV page.

You can apply to restore your status. We ask that you connect with an International Student Specialist as soon as possible to discuss your options

When you complete the application form, make sure you do all of the following:

• Select Restore my status under section 3 at the top of page one of the applicable form.
• Include a note explaining the reason you need to extend your stay and the reason your status expired.
• You must also pay the restoration fee in addition to the study permit processing fee.

If your temporary resident status is restored, you'll receive the appropriate permit by mail, which will outline the conditions of your stay in Canada. Your temporary resident status in Canada will be extended until a specified date.

Note: students in Canada with expired student status must stop studying until their student status is restored.

The Co-op work permit requirement is still in place, and international students must obtain a Co-op work permit prior to engaging in any work-integrated learning (WIL) component during their study program. Some students may be eligible to use their Study Permit work authorization to engage in a WIL component that is a mandatory component of their study program.

To determine if you meet the requirements to use your Study Permit work authorization for co-op/internship/placement work that is part of your study program, please contact an International Student Specialist.

The following test types are accepted by IRCC:

English

• CELPIP-General test
• IELTS General Training
• PTE Core option

French

• TEF Canada
• TCF Canada

Detailed information can be found on the IRCC website. At the time of your application submission, the language test result must be less than 2 years old, to be accepted by IRCC.

You cannot submit your PGWP application to IRCC until you receive a Program Completion Letter from the University; this document can only be issued to you once you complete ALL your program requirements. If your study permit is going to expire before you receive your Program Completion Letter from the University, you will need to apply to extend your study permit and we recommend that you submit the extension application at least 3-4 before the expiration date listed on your permit.

For more information, visit our Working in Canada webpage

If you plan to remain in Canada during this time, you should not wait till your convocation ceremony in June to submit your PGWP since you will have met the completion requirements of your program before that time. You are advised to request your completion letter once you’ve met the completion requirements of your program.

For more information, visit our PGWP webpage.

Foreign nationals are ineligible for the PGWP program if they participated in the International Scholarships for non-Canadians program funded by Global Affairs Canada, other than Study in Canada Scholarship recipients in the following programs: 

• the Canada-China Scholars' Exchange Program
• the Organization of American States Academic Scholarship Program

Students can be registered part-time and still maintain the conditions of their study permit however being part-time will impact their work authorization. Once your registration becomes part-time, you are no longer eligible to work on or off campus. You will only be allowed to resume working during your studies once you resume full-time registration (note: students who are/become part-time during the Winter term, will NOT be eligible to work on and off campus during Spring and Summer either).

Finally, you should also be aware that being part-time in a term that is not your final term, MAY negatively impact your PGWP eligibility. You are advised to consult with an International Student Specialist to discuss your specific situation as soon as possible.

You may be eligible to study without a study permit while you work under a recent IRCC public policy. 

To be eligible, you must be authorized to work in Canada with either of the following:

• a valid work permit that was issued on or before June 7, 2023, or
• a letter authorizing you to work while we process your work permit extension application issued on or before June 7, 2023.

If you applied for a work permit after June 7, 2023, you’re not eligible for these measures.

If you are eligible under this public policy, you can study without a study permit until the earliest of the 2 following dates:

• the expiry date on your work permit
• June 27, 2026 (the date this public policy expires)

If the program of study will end after the date which applies to you (your WP expiration date or June 27, 2026); you are advised to apply for the study permit well in advance of the applicable date. In the meantime, you would be eligible to start your program without the study permit.