FAQs

To keep us updated, use the Visa Status Update form on MyDC. You should use the form three times:

1. After you’ve applied for your study permit (upload your application receipt from IRCC).
2. After you’ve received the study permit approval letter (upload your port of entry letter of introduction).
3. After you’ve obtained the actual study permit (may need to upload a copy of your study permit).

If your study permit doesn’t have work conditions on it, you can ask to have these conditions added if you’re eligible to work on/off campus. There’s no fee to add these conditions to your permit.

You’ll need to request an amendment to your study permit before you can apply for a social insurance number (SIN) from Service Canada.

• You may be eligible to work in Canada while studying as a full-time student, if your study permit includes a condition that says you can work on or off campus.
• You can only start working in Canada when you start your study program as a full-time international student and you have a SIN.
• You can work as many hours as you want for on-campus work, in addition to working off campus, as long as you continue to meet the eligibility requirements for working on campus.
• You can work up to 24 hours per week for off-campus workduring regular school semesters. You can work full-time if you are on a regularly scheduled break. You must be a full-time student both before and after the break to work full-time, unless the semester after the break is your final semester.

No, you cannot work on/off campus during a leave from your studies. You may only work again after you’re back to studying if you have a valid study permit and you meet the eligibility to work.

If you choose to take a semester off, this is not a regularly scheduled break, but a leave from studies. It will negatively affect your PGWP application in the future.

You can see the definition of a regularly scheduled break HERE. A regularly scheduled break is when everyone in your program takes the time off.

Most September start programs follow the path of completing Semester 1 and 2, then 4 months off (regularly scheduled break), and then Semester 3 and 4.

Most January/May start students complete four back-to-back semesters with no semester break.

Your program coordinator/academic student advisor can confirm if you have a semester off if this information is not listed on the program page of the website.

Required documents include:

• Application form – IMM5709
• Copy of passport pages
• Copy of current study permit
• Proof of enrolment at a DLI (e.g. Verification of Enrolment letter on MyDC or the LOA of your next program)
• Proof of academic standing (e.g. official transcript, the most recent one)
• Proof of funds available or means of support

If you’re applying for a study permit after entering Canada, you may need a provincial attestation letter or territorial attestation letter.

If you need assistance in this application, visit this IRCC website. You can also refer to our Handout or watch the related video on our YouTube channel.

You can watch the related video on our YouTube channel. For further assistance, you can make an appointment with an ISA.

Yes, if you applied to extend your study permit before it expired, and you remain in Canada after your original study permit expired, you are on “maintained status”. That means you can keep studying and/or working under the same conditions while waiting for a decision from IRCC. For more information about “maintained status”, you may visit this IRCC webpage.

Note: if you leave Canada as a student on maintained status, you’ll lose your ability to study when you return. This means you can’t study until your application is approved.

You must stop studying and working immediately as you are out of status. Since the day you lose your status, you have up to 90 days to apply to restore your status as a student.

Box 24 in your Letter of Acceptance (LOA) will indicate if your program has a work component. If there is a mandatory work component in your program, you need a co-op work permit.

When applying for your initial study permit, you are asked “Is work an essential component of your studies?”. If you said “yes” to this, you are required to upload a co-op letter, and you can use the second page of your LOA for this. You should receive a co-op work permit along with a study permit when you enter Canada.

You can apply for a co-op work permit from inside Canada for free. Contact us for a co-op verification letter to support your application.

You may begin the mandatory work component (e.g. co-op/placement/internship/practicum) using your study permit on-campus and off-campus work authorization, provided you meet all the eligibility requirements.

For off-campus work authorization, as per paragraph R186(v), you can work a total of 24 hours per week during an academic term or semester while you are waiting for the co-op work permit. However, the 24 hours must include both the hours worked at your co-op/placement/internship/practicum job and those worked at your regular paid job (if you have one).

If the co-op work permit application is refused, you must stop the work immediately.

Once you have been accepted into the co-op work term, it becomes a mandatory component of your program. We will send you the documents you need to apply for the co-op work permit, if you don’t already have one.

No. Your co-op work permit is for the mandatory work component of your program only. You cannot use it for any other jobs. Once the work component of your program is completed, your co-op work permit becomes invalid.

• If you have finished all of your studies, you may continue working on/off campus as long as you have a valid study permit and you meet the conditions outlined on your study permit. For off-campus work, you can work for up to 24 hours per week after you finish your studies.
• However, once your Verification of Graduation letter is availablefor you to order on MyDC showing status as "Approved - Not Yet Awarded", you must stop working immediately.
• You may only work again on a full-time basis after you submit your application for a PGWP with a valid study permit and you meet all the other requirements as per R186(w).

Visit HERE to learn how the length of a PGWP is determined.

If you have been studying full-time in every semester, and you only need a part-time course load in your final semester, you can study part-time in your final semester. This should not affect your PGWP eligibility.

To learn all the PGWP eligibility requirements, read HERE.

You have up to 180 days after you graduate to apply for a PGWP. When you apply, make sure you have a valid study permit if you apply from inside Canada.

You can apply for a PGWP after you’ve received your Verification of Graduation letter with the status “Approved – Not Yet Awarded” and your official final transcript.

Your Verification of Graduation letter is available on MyDC approximately 6 weeks after the final grades are entered into the system. You should order your official transcript early, even before you finish your studies, and choose “Hold until final grades are released”.

You can request an official transcript through your MyDC. Once processed, you will receive instructions from MyCreds on how to access the document.

If you want to save your official transcript as a PDF:

• Choose Option 1 Generate a link to my documents.
• Add your name, email address, etc. and share to yourself.
• Open the document via email, download a PDF copy.

Here is a tutorial video on how to get a PDF copy from MyCreds.

You need both your Verification of Graduation letter and your official final transcript from the college for your PGWP application.

When your graduation is confirmed, the status on your graduation letter should state “Approved – Not Yet Awarded” or “Certificate Awarded”.

HAVE NOT APPLIED FOR PGWP

You may travel and re-enter Canada if you have a valid TRV or eTA, and you should bring:

• Verification of Graduation letter and official final transcript
• Valid study permit

HAVE APPLIED FOR PGWP

You may travel and re-enter Canada if you have a valid TRV or eTA, and you should bring:

• Copy of acknowledgement of receipt from PGWP application
• Fee payment receipt

As long as you apply for a PGWP with a valid study permit from within Canada and meet other criteria under R186(w), you can start working full-time, even after re-entering Canada following a trip abroad.

Contact us.