The published IRCC process for a study permit: choosing a designated learning institution, the letter of acceptance, the provincial or territorial attestation letter and its 2026 exemptions, proof of funds, biometrics, fees, and the work conditions that come with the permit.
Applies in: across Canada
This guide covers one application only: a study permit to study in Canada at a designated learning institution (DLI). It is not a guide to a visitor visa, a work permit, or permanent residence, and it is not immigration advice for your situation. It states the published process as Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) states it. The rules in this guide are date-sensitive: the provincial attestation letter system began in January 2024, the 2026 allocation period and its exemptions run from January 1 to December 31, 2026, and the financial chart is updated annually. Read the IRCC pages linked in the Sources section on the day you apply, and apply the rules in force on your submission date.
A study permit is a written authorization issued by an officer allowing a foreign national to study in Canada. It is not a travel document. That distinction matters throughout this guide: the permit authorizes study, while a visitor visa or an electronic travel authorization (eTA), issued with or separately from the permit, authorizes travel to Canada. Do not book travel on the strength of a study permit approval alone until you confirm you hold the travel document you need.
Only DLIs can host international students on a study permit, and the program must be one the permit can cover. IRCC's work-conditions page states the program test that also frames eligibility generally: a post-secondary academic, vocational, or professional training program, or a secondary-level vocational training program in Quebec, at least 6 months long and leading to a degree, diploma, or certificate. A program shorter than 6 months that can be completed within the authorized stay on entry does not require a study permit, though you may choose to apply for one. That short-course rule is not a shortcut into a longer program: if you enrol in a short course intending to continue, the longer program needs its own permit assessment.
Confirm the institution is a DLI on IRCC's DLI list before you pay an application fee or a tuition deposit. Confirm the program's credential, length, and start date in writing from the institution, because the letter of acceptance, the attestation letter, and the financial assessment all key off those facts. If you are comparing programs, compare the same facts for each: DLI status, whether the program is PGWP-eligible if post-graduation work matters to you, and whether the program is degree-granting at a public institution if the 2026 attestation exemption matters to you. Those are three different tests, and a program can pass one and fail another.
Your school gives you a letter of acceptance, and you upload it to your online application. IRCC states that for post-secondary students, the school will be asked to make sure the letter of acceptance is valid, and if the school does not respond by the deadline, IRCC will return the application and refund the processing fee. Confirm with the school that it will validate the letter before you resubmit an application, and keep the confirmation.
Two handling rules from IRCC's documents page prevent avoidable errors. First, attach only the letter of acceptance in the letter-of-acceptance space: attaching other documents there discloses them to the school. Second, there are narrow exceptions to needing a letter of acceptance at all, including a family member of someone whose study or work permit application was approved in writing before entry to Canada. If you claim an exception, IRCC's attestation instructions state a PAL or TAL is still required unless you meet an exception, so an exception to one document is not an exception to the whole application.
Most study permit applicants need a provincial attestation letter (PAL) or territorial attestation letter (TAL) from the province or territory where they plan to study. IRCC states that in most cases you get it from your school, and in most cases you need to accept the offer and pay tuition fees, in part or in full, to get it. If you apply without a PAL or TAL when one is required, the application will not be accepted for processing and processing fees will be returned. The PAL or TAL confirms you have been assigned one of the cap spaces allocated to that province or territory under the intake cap in place since January 22, 2024. It is not an approval of the study permit: you must still meet every other requirement.
The 2026 exemptions, stated in IRCC's operational instructions for the allocation period January 1 to December 31, 2026, are narrow and worth reading exactly:
For Quebec, the attestation of issuance of a Quebec Acceptance Certificate (CAQ) from the Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l'Intégration acts as the PAL or TAL as long as it is valid. A valid CAQ may be re-used in later study permit applications unless you change level of study or institution, subject to the pre-December 6, 2024 and minor-child exceptions on the instructions page. A CAQ that expires before the expected completion date can still support acceptance for processing if it is valid when IRCC receives the application, but the study permit is then issued only for the CAQ's validity period, and you must extend with a new CAQ for the remainder.
IRCC requires proof that you have enough money, without working in Canada, to pay for tuition fees, living expenses for yourself and family members coming with you, and transportation to and from Canada for yourself and accompanying family members. You must show financial resources for the first year of study, and for programs longer than a year, you must also tell IRCC how you plan to pay for the full duration, for example by showing a scholarship longer than a year or proof that your parents are employed. IRCC assesses the amount of funds, their source, and whether they will be available throughout the full duration of your studies. A balance that appears only on the eve of application, without a documented source, does not meet the test IRCC describes.
The documents IRCC lists as examples are not a complete list, and you do not need all of them, but you need enough to show you meet all the financial capacity requirements. They include: proof you paid first-year tuition and housing fees, such as a receipt from the DLI, accompanied by other documents proving funds for living expenses and transportation; proof of a student or education loan from a bank; proof of a scholarship or participation in a Government of Canada-funded educational program, with other documents if the scholarship covers tuition only; pay stubs from recent employment; a letter from the person or institution giving you money, stating their employment or occupation, relationship to you, number of dependants, and amount of support, with proof of the relationship and evidence of the support, including identification or business registration; proof of a Canadian bank account in your name if money has been transferred to Canada; a guaranteed investment certificate from a Canadian financial institution; bank statements for the past 6 months, including the month of submission or the month prior, with documentation showing the source of the income; financial documents related to a pension plan; and proof of income from rental properties. If your country uses foreign exchange controls, you must prove you will be allowed to export funds for all your expenses. Local visa office instructions may add requirements for your country or region, so check them before you treat the list above as complete.
No dollar amount for living expenses is stated in this guide. IRCC publishes the living-expense amounts in a chart on its proof-of-financial-support page, states the amounts are updated each year, and states they do not include tuition and transportation costs. Secondary summaries published in 2026 disagree about the current figure because the chart was updated during the year, so this guide states no figure rather than carrying a possibly superseded one. Read the chart on IRCC's page on the day you apply, confirm the figure in force on your submission date and the figure for your family size including accompanying members, and keep the chart or a dated copy with your application records. Quebec applicants follow Quebec's financial requirements through the CAQ process instead of the federal chart.
Proof of identity is always required. You and each family member coming with you must have a copy of a valid passport or travel document, uploaded as the information page for an online application, with the original passport to be sent if you are approved, plus two recent passport-size photos with the name and date of birth written on the back of each. United States citizens have additional options for proof of identity, and lawful permanent residents of the United States must travel with a valid green card or equivalent proof of status plus a valid passport from their country of nationality.
A medical exam may be required if you plan to stay more than 6 months, recently spent time in certain countries, or plan to work in jobs where public health must be protected. Check whether you need one on IRCC's medical exam pages, and use a doctor approved by IRCC if you do. A police certificate may be requested in some cases; if you think you might need one, apply as early as possible, because obtaining it can take time. Children under 17 who are not coming with a parent or legal guardian must have an appointed custodian, with the documents IRCC requires for that arrangement. Other documents may be required by your local visa office: IRCC directs applicants to the How to apply page, selecting outside Canada and apply online, then their country or territory, to get those instructions. If you are not currently in your home country, you may have to prove your immigration status in the country you apply from, and if the government that issued your passport requires a re-entry permit, you must get one before applying.
IRCC's documents page is built around the online application: letters, identity documents, and proof of funds are all uploaded to the online application, and the How to apply page gives the local visa office instructions through the online route. Apply through the IRCC online account for your situation, complete every field in the personalized checklist the portal generates, and upload each document in its own space. A complete application matters: IRCC states it will not be able to finalize your study permit until you have submitted a complete application.
Fees are verified on IRCC's fee list, re-checked on November 1, 2026. The fee list states a study permit, including extensions, at $150.00 per person, and restoring status as a student at $396.25 in total, comprising $246.25 for restoration and $150.00 for a new study permit. Biometrics are $85.00 per individual and $170.00 per family of two or more eligible people applying at the same time, on the same fee list. IRCC's study permit instructions state you must pay the biometrics fee when you submit the application, or you may experience delays. Confirm the amounts on the fee list on the day you pay. No processing-time figure is stated in this guide: IRCC publishes processing times through its processing-time tool, and a figure copied from any other source would be stale on arrival. The Student Direct Stream, a faster-processing route for applicants from listed countries with additional requirements including a guaranteed investment certificate and first-year tuition payment, is a separate stream with its own eligibility page; this guide does not state its country list or processing claim, because both change.
Biometrics, where required, are fingerprints and a photo given after you apply, when IRCC instructs you. IRCC's biometrics pages state who must give them and who is exempt, including age-based exemptions, and the PGWP and visitor application pages state the working pattern for temporary residence: biometrics given once every 10 years for repeat applications, collected within 30 days of the instruction letter. If you have given biometrics for a previous temporary residence application and they remain valid, check IRCC's biometrics tool before paying again. Do not attend a collection appointment before IRCC instructs you, and do not delay once instructed: processing does not proceed on the same footing until biometrics are received.
A study permit carries printed conditions, and the work conditions are the ones that decide whether you may work at all. IRCC states you can work off campus without a work permit only if you meet all of these requirements: you are a full-time student at a DLI; you have started your study program; you are enrolled in a post-secondary academic, vocational, or professional training program, or a secondary-level vocational training program in Quebec; you hold a valid study permit or applied to extend it before it expired; your program is at least 6 months long and leads to a degree, diploma, or certificate; your initial study permit carries conditions allowing off-campus work; and you have a Social Insurance Number. Part-time students in their final semester who were full-time until then may also qualify, and students on authorized leave or switching schools while not studying cannot work off campus until they resume studies. If your permit does not carry work conditions, you can ask to have them added if you are eligible, at no fee for adding the conditions, but you must request the amendment before applying for a Social Insurance Number.
The hour limits, verified on IRCC's work-off-campus page, are: up to 24 hours per week during regular school terms or semesters, across all jobs combined, and unlimited hours off campus during scheduled breaks such as summer and winter holidays or reading weeks. If your program has no scheduled breaks, the 24-hour limit applies throughout. If your current permit still says 20 hours per week, IRCC states you are allowed to work up to 24 hours as long as you continue to meet the eligibility requirements. Working more than 24 hours per week in term is a violation of your study permit conditions: IRCC states you can lose student status, may not be approved for a study or work permit in the future, and may have to leave the country. Remote work for an employer outside Canada does not count toward the 24-hour limit, as long as you still meet the study permit conditions. You cannot work before your program starts, and you cannot work off campus at all if your permit says you are not authorized, if you are only in an English or French as a second language program, only taking general interest courses, or only taking courses required for acceptance into a full-time program: in those cases you need a work permit to work.
Changing institutions or programs has permit consequences. The attestation rules in Step 3 show part of the picture: a new DLI or a different level of study generally requires a new PAL or TAL, and IRCC's study permit pages require you to check the current rules for changing DLIs before you move. Do not assume an existing permit follows you to a new school. Similarly, after you complete your program, IRCC's working-after-completion rules allow unlimited hours only on stated conditions, including having applied for a work permit before the study permit expired or starting a new program within the stated window. The post-graduation work permit guide covers the work authorization most graduates seek next, and its 180-day window runs from confirmation of completion, not from the permit expiry date.
If your application is refused, IRCC sends a letter telling you why. Keep that letter, the refusal reasons, and the full application record: a new application must answer the refusal, not repeat it. If your application is approved, travel with the documents IRCC gave you, including the travel document and the permit approval, and keep the letter of acceptance, attestation letter, and proof-of-funds documents available for examination on arrival. A study permit does not guarantee re-entry: a border services officer must still be satisfied you meet the entry requirements, and the permit must be accompanied by a valid travel document.
This guide states no dollar amount for proof of funds, because the IRCC chart figures are not stated here and secondary summaries disagree about the current figure; read the chart on IRCC's proof-of-financial-support page on the day you apply. It states no processing time, no Student Direct Stream country list, and no intake-cap number, because all three change by allocation period and the IRCC pages govern. It states no co-op or internship permit rule beyond directing you to IRCC's placement pages, because placement rules changed during 2026 and could not be verified on an official page. Where a figure was cut, the guide points to the IRCC page that owns it instead of carrying a secondary source's number.
Not if the program is a degree-granting master's or doctoral program at a public designated learning institution. IRCC's 2026 clarifications state that applicants to degree-granting graduate programs at the master's or doctoral level at public DLIs do not require a PAL or TAL. The exception does not cover graduate programs at private DLIs, which still require a PAL or TAL, and it does not cover graduate programs that do not confer a degree, such as graduate diplomas or certificates, microprograms, the diplôme d'études supérieures spécialisées, or visiting-student study. If your program falls in one of those excluded categories, you need a PAL or TAL unless another exception applies. Do not assume a program is public or degree-granting from its name: confirm both facts with the institution.
This guide states no dollar amount, because the amount is set by a chart on IRCC's proof-of-financial-support page that is updated each year. The structure IRCC states is fixed: you must prove enough money, without working in Canada, for tuition fees, living expenses for yourself and family members coming with you, and transportation to and from Canada, showing resources for the first year and, for longer programs, telling IRCC how you plan to pay for the full duration. The living-expense amount rises with the number of family members, and Quebec sets its own financial requirements through the Quebec Acceptance Certificate process. Read the current chart on IRCC's proof-of-financial-support page on the day you apply, and apply the figure in force on your submission date.
Only if your study permit's printed conditions allow it, and only within the limits IRCC sets. IRCC states you can work off campus without a work permit only if you meet all of its requirements: full-time student at a designated learning institution, program started, post-secondary program or secondary-level vocational program in Quebec, valid study permit or a timely extension application, program at least 6 months long leading to a degree, diploma, or certificate, work conditions printed on the initial permit, and a Social Insurance Number. During regular school terms you can work up to 24 hours per week off campus, and during scheduled breaks you can work unlimited hours off campus. You cannot start work before your program begins, you cannot work off campus while on authorized leave or while switching schools and not studying, and working more than 24 hours per week in term is a violation of your study permit conditions.
Not necessarily. IRCC's attestation-letter instructions state that a study permit is not required if the program or course is less than 6 months long and can be completed within the authorized stay permitted on entry to Canada, although you may choose to apply for one. That short-course position does not remove the entry requirement: you still need the travel document that applies to you, a visitor visa or an electronic travel authorization, to enter Canada. If the program has a prerequisite and you submit a study permit application regardless of duration, a PAL or TAL is required for the prerequisite even if the main program is exempt. If you think you may continue into a longer program, applying for a study permit from the start avoids a mid-stay application from inside Canada.
Yes, in one material respect. In most cases you need a provincial or territorial attestation letter from your school, but if you are studying in Quebec you need a Quebec Acceptance Certificate, the Certificat d'acceptation du Québec (CAQ), and a valid CAQ acts as the PAL or TAL as long as it is valid. Quebec also sets its own financial-capacity requirements through the CAQ process, so the federal proof-of-funds chart does not govern a Quebec application. IRCC's instructions add that in some cases a CAQ is required even if a PAL or TAL is not, and that a study permit is issued only for the duration the CAQ remains valid, or the travel document or other assessments, whichever is sooner. Start with the Ministère de l'Immigration, de la Francisation et de l'Intégration process for the CAQ before you build the federal application around it.
IRCC states that your school will be asked to make sure your letter of acceptance is valid, and if the school does not respond by the deadline, IRCC will return your application and refund your processing fee. Confirm with your school that it will validate the letter before you resubmit. Attach only the letter of acceptance in the letter-of-acceptance space in the online application: IRCC warns that attaching other documents there gives your consent to disclose those additional documents to your school, and all other required documents belong in their own spaces. A returned application is not a refusal on the merits, but it costs the time you spent waiting, so the validation check belongs before submission, not after.
Figures that could not be verified on an official page were cut from this guide: all proof-of-funds dollar amounts, including the single-applicant living-expense figure; all processing times; the Student Direct Stream country list and any faster-processing claim; the 2026 intake-cap number and any provincial allocation number; and any co-op or internship work-permit rule. Check the IRCC proof-of-financial-support chart, processing-time tool, and program pages linked above for current figures before you apply or pay.