Conditions for maintaining the validity of a Study Permit in Canada

Conditions for maintaining the validity of a Study Permit

Students holding a Canadian Study Permit will need to meet certain conditions to maintain its validity. Failure to meet these conditions may result in the invalidation of your Study Permit and loss of student status. You may be required to leave Canada.

Students holding a study permit must:

• Register for admission to a school on the list. designated learning institution (DLI)
• Show that you are engaged in learning by:
  • Study full-time or part-time during official semesters (excluding school holidays).
  • There is a learning process and progress according to the course schedule. and
  • Do not take more than 150 days off during your studies (see details below).
• Update the Department of Immigration whenever you change schools.
• End your studies immediately if you do not meet the requirements to be a student. and
• Leaving Canada when your documents have expired and the reinstatement period has passed.

You must comply with the specific requirements stated in your study permit, including:

• allowed learning level
• Are you allowed to work in Canada, including:
  • on or off campus, and
  • Do you have to participate in and complete a co-op work term or internship?
• Do you have to report on your health?
• You get to travel through other regions in Canada, and
• The day you have to stop studying.

If your school loses its DLI status after you obtain your study permit, you can still study until your study permit expires. If you wish to renew your study permit, you must apply to a school that is now a DLI.

How do you calculate the allowable time off from school?

There are some situations in which you can take up to 150 days off from school:

• The school allowed time off because:
  • health or maternity reasons
  • family emergency
  • A family member has passed away or is seriously ill.
  • other cases of absence from school as permitted by the school.
• The school closed permanently or a strike occurred.
• Change of school location, gaps in enrollment due to discontinuous study programs.
• change the start date of the school year
  • In this case, you must begin your studies in the next semester, even if that semester is 150 days earlier, and obtain the most recent acceptance letter with updated start dates.

You cannot work on or off campus during this break, even if you have a valid study permit or work permit.

For those exempt from the above study permit maintenance requirements, please see HERE.