Report international students' enrolment status through IRCC's Designated Learning Institution (DLI) Portal in Canada: who must report twice a year, the March 1 and November 1 requests, the 60-day deadline, GCKey sign-in, the 11 enrolment statuses, and how to transmit the compliance report.
Applies in: CA
This guide covers one process only: a post-secondary designated learning institution (DLI) reporting the enrolment status of its international students to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) through the DLI Portal. In IRCC's language this is student compliance reporting, or a compliance verification request. It is not the letter-of-acceptance verification process, which has its own portal and deadline; section 7 keeps the two apart. It is also written for the institution, not the student: if you hold a study permit and want to know what your school reported about you, this guide tells you what the report contains, but the filing itself is your institution's job.
Reporting is mandatory. Since 2016, a compliance process has monitored the enrolment status of study permit holders at post-secondary DLIs in Canada, excluding Nunavut, according to Reviewing student enrolment status reporting by DLIs. As of November 8, 2024, submitting a compliance report became mandatory under paragraph R222.1(1)(b) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, on the same page. Student compliance reporting states the duty in plain terms: all DLIs at the post-secondary level must accurately report on the enrolment status of their international students and submit these reports using the DLI Portal. The information lets IRCC assess whether study permit holders continue to meet their study permit conditions, including whether they are actively pursuing their course or program of study at a DLI, and students who do not comply with those conditions can be subject to a removal order, on the same page.
One caution about the age of the main source. The step-by-step Designated Learning Institution Portal: Student Compliance Reporting guide states it was last updated on November 1, 2024, a week before reporting became mandatory. Its portal steps are the most detailed official instructions available, and this guide follows them, but screen labels and mailbox arrangements can change. Recheck the guide and the compliance reporting page on the day you file, and treat anything the live portal shows differently from this guide as the current instruction.
The duty sits with post-secondary DLIs. A DLI is a school approved by a province or territory to host international students, and the reporting duty in this guide applies at the post-secondary level. If your institution is not designated, or not post-secondary, this process is not yours; designation questions go to your province or territory, which designates institutions and authorizes the primary representative, as the portal guide explains.
Two geographic limits apply. First, DLIs in Quebec will not be asked to submit reports until the framework for submission has been established, according to Student compliance reporting. The FAQ at the top of this guide explains what to do about that. Second, the compliance regime described in Reviewing student enrolment status reporting by DLIs excludes Nunavut.
You do not choose who to report on. IRCC sends each DLI a request to complete a compliance report through the DLI Portal twice a year, and the compliance report is a list of all foreign nationals with an active study permit associated with the DLI number in GCMS, generated automatically in GCMS on the first day of the reporting period and sent through the portal, according to Reviewing student enrolment status reporting by DLIs. The portal guide narrows the listed population further: the DLI Portal lists international students who applied for a study permit as of June 1, 2014 and currently hold a valid study permit, and who are enrolled in a program of study of at least 6 months in duration. Post-secondary DLIs must complete compliance verification requests for these students, on the same guide. DLIs cannot add students to the list, and they report on only the students who appear on it. If students attend your institution but do not appear, or a listed student is unknown to you, the FAQ above and section 4 explain the handling; do not expand the list yourself.
IRCC may send two types of compliance verification request, and both must be completed and submitted through the DLI Portal, according to the Designated Learning Institution Portal: Student Compliance Reporting guide.
Periodic verification is the twice-yearly report this guide is about. DLIs report on the enrolment status of their international students in the spring and fall, and have 60 days to complete the compliance report through the DLI Portal. The conditions page gives the same duty in regulatory language: under R222.1(1)(b), the DLI must submit a student compliance report containing the enrolment status for each study permit holder accepted to the DLI and associated to the DLI in the Global Case Management System, within 60 calendar days of receiving a request using the DLI Portal account, with requests sent twice a year on March 1 and November 1. The operational bulletin states the resulting windows as fixed 60-day periods: March 1 to April 30, and November 1 to December 30. Those wordings agree: 60 days, or 60 calendar days, from a March 1 or November 1 request. Expect a request every March and November. The primary contact at each post-secondary DLI receives an email notification when a report must be submitted, according to Student compliance reporting, and the portal guide states IRCC sends an email to the DLI's primary user when a new pending verification request is in the DLI Compliance Reporting Queue. Keep the primary contact's email address current; the primary user is responsible for keeping contact information up to date so the DLI receives all notifications IRCC sends.
Ad hoc verification is the second type. IRCC may send an ad hoc verification request, and DLIs must respond within 10 days of receiving the request, according to the portal guide. The conditions page states the matching correction duty: under R222.1(1)(c), the DLI must provide corrected, updated, or additional information to the information in its compliance report using the DLI Portal or by email within 10 calendar days of a request from IRCC. Treat "10 days" in the guide and "10 calendar days" in the conditions wording as the same short deadline, and work to the calendar-day reading, which is the stricter one. Ad hoc requests are how IRCC asks for corrections after a periodic report, so a submitted report is not necessarily the end of the cycle.
The hard stop matters more than either deadline label. Compliance verification requests expire at midnight Coordinated Universal Time on the final day of reporting, and DLIs cannot submit their report later than that deadline, according to the portal guide. Extensions exist only as described in the FAQ above: email the DLI inbox, explain exceptional circumstances, and wait for IRCC to consider it. Do not plan around an extension you have not been granted.
No fee figure is published for this reporting on any official page. No page states a filing fee, and none states that reporting is free of charge either, so this guide states neither. If a portal screen asks for payment, stop before paying and email the DLI mailbox, because no fee was verified. The fee position is listed again in the pending checks at the end of this guide.
Access runs through people, not just accounts. When a learning institution is designated by its province or territory, the primary representative receives an invitation from IRCC to enrol the DLI through the DLI Portal, and only the primary representative can submit an enrolment request, according to the Designated Learning Institution Portal: Student Compliance Reporting guide. DLIs should not create a DLI Portal account without an invitation from IRCC; enrolments not authorized by IRCC will not be actioned. If your institution was designated recently and no invitation has arrived, raise it with your province or territory first, not by registering cold.
The primary user is the main contact for IRCC: the employee who is the authorized primary representative, by the province or territory, responsible for managing the DLI's secondary user access, and responsible for keeping contact information up to date. The guide recommends that primary users add secondary users by assigning them personal identification numbers (PINs). The secondary user receives a PIN from the primary user to create an account linked to the institution through the portal. Both primary and secondary users can complete, save, and submit ad hoc and periodic compliance verification reports, but secondary users cannot assign DLI Portal access to others. If the primary representative changes, or the DLI's contact information changes, notify the province or territory, which then notifies IRCC; the guide states DLIs must notify their province or territory of any changes to the contact information of the DLI or primary representative, and that the provincial or territorial government authorizes a change of primary representative. The guide also recommends adding as many secondary users as needed to help with reporting, so one person's absence does not strand a 60-day report.
Sign-in uses GCKey. All users require a DLI Portal account, and the guide recommends Google Chrome and clearing browser history and cache before signing in. The sign-in steps in the guide are:
This guide does not print a DLI Portal web address, because none was verified on an official page beyond the guide's own "Go to the DLI Portal" link. Start from the Designated Learning Institution Portal: Student Compliance Reporting guide page or the Student compliance reporting page and follow the portal link from there, rather than searching for a portal address and trusting an unofficial result. Keep a good record of the GCKey username and password: the guide states usernames and passwords cannot be recovered, and a user who loses GCKey login credentials will need to contact the DLI inbox for a PIN reset. The FAQ above covers the lost-credential fix.
After signing in, open the request from the queue. The guide's steps are: click Continue, review the Terms and Conditions, click I Accept, answer the identity validation questions, and click Access Compliance Reporting under "What would you like to do today?" On the DLI Compliance Reporting page, under Request Type, choose the Ad Hoc Verification or Periodic Verification link for the request in front of you. That choice decides which list and deadline you are working to, so confirm it before entering any status.
Each student on the list needs a status, and the status must describe reality on a specific date. Primary and secondary users must select the value that best describes the student's academic or enrolment status at the DLI, and the value must reflect the status on the day the compliance verification request was received, according to the Designated Learning Institution Portal: Student Compliance Reporting guide. The same guide describes periodic verification slightly differently, as reporting on enrolment status as of the date IRCC sends the request. Preserve both wordings: in the ordinary case the sending date and the receiving date are the same day or a day apart, and the status should be the one true on the request date. If a student's status changed between the sending date and the day you open the report, use the request-date status and raise the change with the DLI mailbox rather than silently reporting the newer status. If you are unsure which status to choose after reading the definitions, email the DLI mailbox for assistance, as the guide directs.
The 11 statuses, with the guide's glossary definitions condensed without changing their meaning, are:
Three leave-related rules run through the glossary and are easy to miss. Any leave from a program of studies in Canada should not exceed 150 consecutive days from the date the leave started, and a student who exceeds 150 days of leave will need to change status with IRCC or will be considered non-compliant with study permit conditions. The glossary repeats that 150-day limit under academic break, academic suspension, and authorized leave, and states the 150-calendar-day version under deferred enrolment. Report the status your records support, and flag any student approaching the 150-day limit to your institution's international student office before the report is transmitted, since the status you choose is what IRCC will act on.
Work the list carefully. Students previously reported on have their Status and Student ID fields automatically populated with the information submitted in the previous request; the guide instructs users to select and save the populated statuses to ensure the information is still accurate, rather than assuming last period's answer still holds. If the list includes more than one record for the same student, select the same status for each record, and do not delete duplicates. If two or more students share the same name and date of birth, make sure the correct status is selected for each, and contact the DLI mailbox if you need assistance. The search section lets you find a record by family name, given name, student ID, date of birth, UCI, or status. Student ID numbers are optional, are not validated by IRCC if provided on a study permit application form, may contain only digits 0 to 9 and letters A to Z, and must have any special characters removed before saving. Adding or modifying a student ID is allowed; adding a student is not.
There are two ways to complete the same report: enter statuses directly through the DLI Portal, or download the report, complete it locally, and upload it back. Choose one route per report and work it to completion; mixing half-finished routes is how records get left without a status.
To report directly, open the verification link under the Request Type column, which displays the list of students, and enter a status for each student using the drop-down menu. Click Save after entering a status. Where the same status applies to every student in the current search results, scroll to the bottom, click Select All, select the Status field value, click Apply to selected rows, and click Save. The guide's tip is to use Select All for the majority status and then manually change the students who differ. If the report has more than 250 records, click Next to view the following page. Saving follows the same pattern: click Select All, click Save, and click Return to Queue. Remember the FAQ: saving does not send the report. Section 6 covers submission.
To work by file, download and upload through the Download/Upload the Report control on the DLI Compliance Reporting page. The report can be downloaded as .xlsx, .csv, or .xml, but it can only be uploaded as .csv or .xml: a report downloaded as .xlsx cannot be uploaded in the same format and must be saved as a .csv file first. Uploading as .csv follows the guide's steps: click Download/Upload the Report, go to the Upload a Report applet, choose the file format, click Browse in the Choose a File from Your Computer field, find the file and click Open, then click Upload File. Uploading as .xml follows the same steps and must use the schema the guide publishes on the download page. You can download and upload multiple times, and you can upload as many files as you require, but you cannot submit the report until all students are uploaded. If the uploaded report contains mistakes, the system displays a page with a link to the list of errors; fix the listed records and upload again rather than transmitting a report with errors in it.
Before transmitting, check the counts. Make sure the numbers in the Total Records and Records Ready to Transmit columns are the same; if they differ, go back to the report and look for records that were not updated, according to the Designated Learning Institution Portal: Student Compliance Reporting guide. A record without a status, or with a student ID containing a special character, will hold the whole report back.
Transmit in two clicks. In the Action column, click Transmit to IRCC when ready to submit; if the report was uploaded through the portal, the Transmit to IRCC button must still be clicked to complete submission. A confirmation page follows, and Transmit to IRCC must be clicked again. Clicking Cancel returns to the Compliance Requests from IRCC page without submitting. Once the report is successfully submitted, the DLI's primary user receives a confirmation email, and submission can also be confirmed in the portal: if the report for the current period shows Submitted under Days Left to Transmit, IRCC has received it. If a number of days still shows there, the report still needs submitting: complete all records and click Transmit to IRCC. Keep the confirmation email and a note of the submission date with the institution's compliance file, since the portal guide names no other receipt.
After submission, the portal closes. Once a report has been successfully submitted to IRCC, DLIs can no longer make changes using the DLI Portal, and a needed change must go to IRCC by emailing the DLI mailbox, according to the guide. That is also the route for ad hoc correction requests: IRCC may ask for corrected, updated, or additional information within 10 calendar days, as section 2 explains. If your own records show a submitted status was wrong, email the mailbox promptly with the correction rather than waiting for IRCC to ask, and keep the sent message. A correction offered voluntarily, with the evidence behind it, is stronger than the same correction extracted by a verification request.
Questions during any of this go to the DLI mailbox. Student compliance reporting states the primary contact may send questions about the compliance reporting process to IRCC by email at IRCC.DLIList-ListeEED.IRCC@cic.gc.ca, with the subject line either "Technical question" or "Compliance reporting process question", and the body including the DLI name, DLI number, requestor name, and phone number, with a response aimed for within ten business days. The portal guide's help section states the same mailbox handles technical support, additional instructions, and questions about the DLI Portal, and that if a request cannot be processed within 10 business days, the requestor will be advised of the expected resolution date. Use that mailbox for portal failures, status-definition questions, and extension requests alike, and include the four body items the compliance page asks for, so the message is not bounced back for missing details.
Non-compliance is handled as a verification process with a chance to respond, not as an automatic penalty. Reporting obligations for post-secondary designated learning institutions states IRCC can verify compliance at any point if the DLI was randomly selected, is believed not to be compliant, was found non-compliant in the past, or if there is reason to suspect a letter of acceptance bearing the DLI's name was improperly issued. During a compliance verification, IRCC sends a Notice of Preliminary Findings explaining the violation and possible consequences, and the DLI has 30 days from receiving the notice to write back before a final decision. The DLI can explain why it could not meet its obligations or that it was in fact compliant, with information and evidence showing good faith or all reasonable efforts to comply, and can ask for an extension by writing back if more time is needed; IRCC may grant a maximum of 30 further days if exceptional circumstances prevented on-time submissions.
If the final decision finds non-compliance, the consequences are a warning, which may be used in future compliance verifications, or suspension of up to 12 months with placement on a public IRCC suspension list, according to the reporting obligations page. During suspension, IRCC will not process any new study permit applications to the school, and fees and new study permit applications will be returned to the clients. The conditions page states the same outcome in regulatory terms: a warning, or placement on the suspension list for up to one year under R222.5(1), with the suspension length weighing the frequency and seriousness of the failure, the DLI's efforts to comply, its cooperation with IRCC, and its written submissions. When a DLI is suspended, new study permit applications received during the suspension are returned without being processed, and the DLI's name is added to the public suspension list stating the violation and duration. Applications received before the suspension, and existing study permit holders seeking renewal to complete their program, are not impacted, on the same page.
For students, the stakes sit on the other side of the report. IRCC uses the enrolment statuses to identify individuals who may no longer be enrolled or actively pursuing their studies, both conditions of a study permit under subsection R220.1(1) of the Regulations, according to Reviewing student enrolment status reporting by DLIs. A verification result is adverse where the reported status indicates the study permit holder may not be enrolled or actively pursuing studies, and not adverse where the status indicates the student is enrolled and actively pursuing studies, on the same page. "May not" is the operative phrase: an adverse result is a flag for IRCC follow-up, not a final finding about the student. That is why accuracy matters in both directions. Reporting a studying student as not enrolled can trigger follow-up the student must answer, and reporting a student who left as still studying misleads the compliance regime the DLI is obliged to support.
Do not confuse this report with letter-of-acceptance verification. That is a separate condition: under R222.1(1)(a), the DLI must verify the letter of acceptance in post-secondary study permit applications and confirm whether the applicant was accepted to the program indicated, responding in the LOA portal or by email within 10 calendar days of the request, according to Conditions on post-secondary Designated Learning Institutions. The reporting obligations page gives the same 10-day duty for letter-of-acceptance verification. The LOA check answers whether an applicant was accepted; the compliance report answers whether an enrolled study permit holder is still enrolled and actively pursuing studies. Different question, different portal, different clock. Keep the two queues separate, and do not leave LOA requests at Not Started while working a compliance report.
Not yet, according to the pages linked in this guide. [Student compliance reporting](https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/study-canada/educational-institutions/compliance-reporting.html) carries the note that DLIs in Quebec will not be asked to submit reports until the framework for submission has been established. The [Designated Learning Institution Portal: Student Compliance Reporting](https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/partners-service-providers/dli-portal/compliance-reporting-guide.html) guide says the same in its frequently asked questions: since fall 2016, all post-secondary DLIs except those located in Quebec are required to complete their reports every period, spring and fall, and Quebec DLIs will not be asked until a framework is established. That is a timing position, not a permanent exemption. If your institution is in Quebec, recheck the compliance reporting page before each March and November cycle, and watch for IRCC to communicate the reporting requirements once the framework exists, as the conditions page states. Do not file a report Quebec has not requested, and do not assume the Quebec position will still hold next cycle.
You cannot add anyone. The [Designated Learning Institution Portal: Student Compliance Reporting](https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/partners-service-providers/dli-portal/compliance-reporting-guide.html) guide is explicit twice over: DLIs cannot add students to the list, and they report on only the students who appear on it. Its frequently asked questions repeat the rule for students who should be reported on but are missing: contact the DLI inbox. The same no-adding rule runs the other way for duplicates. If the same student appears more than once, you cannot delete the duplicate records; give every record for that student the same status. A missing student is therefore a mailbox matter, not a reason to improvise a second list or to hold the whole report. Report every student who does appear, transmit on time, and raise the missing name with the DLI inbox separately, so the gap is on record with IRCC rather than sitting silently in your own files.
It depends on what your records actually show, and the guide's glossary draws the lines sharply, so read them before you pick. In the [Designated Learning Institution Portal: Student Compliance Reporting](https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/partners-service-providers/dli-portal/compliance-reporting-guide.html) guide, No show means your institution sent a letter of acceptance and the student never confirmed acceptance, registered but never attended, or registered, attended, and then stopped attending without notifying the institution. No longer registered/enrolled means the student was sent a letter of admission but is no longer registered or enrolled because they were dismissed, withdrew voluntarily, or transferred to another institution. Unknown/no record is narrower still: your institution has no record of a letter of acceptance issued to the person or any record of them being enrolled, and it should only be used for students completely unknown to the DLI. A student who stopped attending without notice and has not withdrawn fits No show; a student who formally withdrew fits No longer registered/enrolled. If the paperwork does not settle it, email the DLI mailbox for assistance rather than guessing, as the guide directs when the right status is unclear.
No. Saving and submitting are different acts, and confusing them is the easiest way to miss a deadline while believing the report is in. The [Designated Learning Institution Portal: Student Compliance Reporting](https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/partners-service-providers/dli-portal/compliance-reporting-guide.html) guide warns in terms: saving the compliance verification report allows users to make changes to student enrolment statuses but does not send the report to IRCC, and users must submit the report to complete the request. Submission means clicking Transmit to IRCC in the Action column, then clicking Transmit to IRCC a second time on the confirmation page. Afterwards, check two things: the DLI's primary user should receive a confirmation email, and the report page should show the word Submitted under Days Left to Transmit. A number of days still showing there means the report has not been submitted, even if every status was entered and saved. Go back, finish any incomplete records, and transmit.
Ask early, in writing, and do not assume extra time exists. Compliance verification requests expire at midnight Coordinated Universal Time on the final day of reporting, and DLIs cannot submit their report later than that deadline, according to the [Designated Learning Institution Portal: Student Compliance Reporting](https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/partners-service-providers/dli-portal/compliance-reporting-guide.html) guide. The same guide's frequently asked questions say DLIs are expected to complete and submit within the 60-day period, and that if a DLI is unable to submit within 60 days due to exceptional circumstances, it should email the DLI inbox, explain the situation, and an extension will be considered. The conditions page puts the legal frame around that: IRCC may provide an extension of time under subsection R222.1(2), and for requests other than letter-of-acceptance verification, extensions may be granted at the discretion of the Minister's delegate if the DLI's response was prevented by exceptional circumstances. Email before the window closes, explain the circumstances, and keep the sent message. A late report with no extension request on file is the worst version of this situation.
Two different problems, two different fixes, and neither is solved by creating a fresh account. For lost credentials, the [Designated Learning Institution Portal: Student Compliance Reporting](https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/corporate/partners-service-providers/dli-portal/compliance-reporting-guide.html) guide states that usernames and passwords cannot be recovered, and that a portal user who loses GCKey login credentials will need to contact the DLI inbox for a PIN reset. Do not enrol again without an IRCC invitation: only the primary representative can submit an enrolment request, and enrolments not authorized by IRCC will not be actioned. For a greyed-out Transmit button, the guide's fix is mechanical: make sure every student record has a status, and make sure no student ID field contains a special character such as a comma, hyphen, or semicolon, since student IDs may contain only digits 0 to 9 and letters A to Z. If both checks pass and the button is still greyed out, email the DLI mailbox with screenshots. Start either fix well before the 60 days run out, because the portal deadline does not wait for a credential reset.
No fee for DLI Portal compliance reporting is stated in this guide, because no fee figure or no-fee statement was verified on an official page. No DLI Portal web address is printed, because the portal guide gives no portal address beyond its own "Go to the DLI Portal" link; start from the guide or compliance reporting page linked above. Two wording pairs are preserved rather than reconciled: the portal guide describes the status date as the day the request was received in one place and the date IRCC sends the request in another, and describes the ad hoc deadline as 10 days while the conditions page says 10 calendar days. Recheck the portal guide on the day you file, since it was last updated November 1, 2024, and recheck the Quebec framework position before each reporting cycle.