Study Permit: Studying in Canada as an International Student

Studying here is a real path, and it takes planning

If you are thinking of studying in Canada as your first step toward staying for good, you are looking at one of the most common routes there is. It also has more moving parts than it used to. Several of the rules around student work and post-graduation permits changed in 2024 and 2025, so some of what you will read in older forum threads is simply no longer true. This guide walks you through what matters now, in plain terms, and points you to the official pages for the figures that shift from year to year.

When you actually need a study permit

You need a study permit for most programs longer than six months at a Designated Learning Institution. A program of six months or less generally does not require one, though many students still apply for a permit so they can stay in the same status if their plans grow. If your program does require a permit, you must have it before your classes start.

What a Designated Learning Institution is

A Designated Learning Institution, or DLI, is a school that a province or territory has approved to host international students. This matters for a practical reason: only a DLI can issue the acceptance letter you need for your study permit application. Before you pay a deposit anywhere, confirm the school is on the DLI list. A school that is not on the list cannot get you a study permit, no matter how good the program looks.

The attestation letter you probably need now

Since 2024, most study permit applicants also have to include a Provincial or Territorial Attestation Letter, often shortened to PAL or TAL. It is a letter from the province or territory where you will study, confirming that you hold one of its spots under the federal cap on international students. Without it, most applications are returned, so this is not a step to skip or leave to the end.

There is an order of operations that surprises a lot of people. To get the attestation letter, you usually have to accept your offer and pay your tuition, in part or in full, first. So the money comes before the letter, and the letter comes before you can submit. Build that sequence into your timeline. The letters are also tied to the year they are issued and expire at the end of it, so do not let one sit unused while you wait on other documents.

One change worth knowing if you are aiming higher: starting January 1, 2026, master's and doctoral students at a public DLI are exempt from the attestation letter requirement. If that is you, check the official PAL page to confirm how the exemption applies to your situation.

Showing you can afford it

Your application has to prove you can cover three things: your first year of tuition, your living costs for a year, and your return travel home. The living-cost amount for a single applicant outside Quebec is pegged to a share of the Low-Income Cut-Off, and IRCC has been raising it most years to keep pace with the real cost of living. Because that number moves, this guide will not quote a figure that could be stale by the time you read it. Pull the current amount straight from the IRCC financial-support page and add it to your tuition and travel costs when you plan your bank statements.

Working while you study

You can usually work while you study without a separate work permit, and the hours rule changed recently, so this is worth getting right. Here is how it works for an eligible full-time student at a DLI:

• Up to 24 hours per week off campus during regular academic sessions. This was raised from the old 20-hour limit, so older guides will tell you the wrong number.
• Unlimited hours during scheduled breaks such as summer, winter holidays, or reading week, but that unlimited work is capped at a total of 180 days per calendar year across all your breaks.
• On-campus work, which does not need a separate permit either.

Who can work off campus

To work off campus you generally need to:

• Be a full-time student at a DLI who has already started the program
• Hold a valid study permit, or have applied to extend it before it expired, with the off-campus work condition printed on it
• Be in a program at least six months long that leads to a degree, diploma, or certificate

Take the hours limit seriously. Working more than you are allowed is a breach of your study permit conditions, and the consequences are real: you can lose your student status, be asked to leave Canada, and have future applications refused. A part-time job is not worth your standing here. If money is tight, talk to your school's international student office before you take on extra shifts.

If your program includes a required co-op or internship, that is a separate authorization. You apply for a co-op work permit, usually alongside your study permit application.

After you graduate: the PGWP

The Post-Graduation Work Permit is the bridge most students are really aiming for. It is an open work permit, so you can work for almost any employer, and it lets you build the Canadian experience that Express Entry rewards. The eligibility rules were tightened in 2024, so read this part closely even if a friend who graduated earlier had an easier time of it.

How long the PGWP lasts

The length depends on your program, and it can never run past your passport's expiry date. As a general guide:

• For programs from eight months up to under two years, the PGWP roughly matches the length of your program.
• For programs of two years or longer, you can receive a PGWP of up to three years.
• Since February 15, 2024, a master's graduate can receive a three-year PGWP even if the master's program was shorter than two years.

The newer requirements

Two requirements that did not exist for earlier graduates now apply to most applicants:

• Language ability. Since November 1, 2024, most PGWP applicants must prove their language level: CLB/NCLC 7 in all four abilities for university graduates, and CLB/NCLC 5 in all four abilities for college, polytechnic, and other non-university graduates. The main exception is graduates of a PGWP-eligible flight school.
• Field of study. Also since November 1, 2024, most college and polytechnic (non-degree) graduates must have studied in a field that aligns with IRCC's list of eligible fields. Graduates of bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs are exempt from this field-of-study rule. If you are in a non-degree program, confirm your field is on the current eligible list before you enrol, because the list is specific and it does change.

And the deadline that catches people off guard: you must apply for the PGWP within 180 days of the date your school confirms you finished, and your study permit must have been valid at some point during that window. The PGWP is a one-time benefit. If the window lapses, it is gone. The day your final marks land, count forward and put the deadline somewhere you will not miss it.

How the PGWP feeds into Express Entry

This is where studying connects to permanent residence. The skilled work you do on a PGWP is exactly the kind of Canadian experience the Canadian Experience Class is built around. After about 12 months of eligible skilled work, you can become eligible for CEC under Express Entry, which is why so many graduates treat the PGWP as their runway to PR.

Keep one honest expectation in mind. Becoming eligible puts you in the pool; it does not get you an invitation on its own. Your CRS score still has to clear the cut-off in a draw. Think of your study and work years as time to build that score: your credential, your language results, and your Canadian work experience all count.