Canada Study Permit: These international students are exempted from providing provincial attestation letter

The Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship set a cap on new study permit applications, allowing 606,250 for processing, with the cap to be revised in 2025. Out of the total study permit applications, a percentage of the total study permit ceiling is allotted to the provinces and territories (PTs), who then distribute it to the authorized educational institutions under their purview.

A provincial attestation letter (PAL), which the applicant intends to study, is a document from the PT verifying that the applicant has been allotted one of the PT’s places. This is how Canada aims to manage the influx of international students in the country.

IRCC has issued new guidelines about the ministerial instructions that require new study permit applications to include a provincial attestation letter from the respective province or territory where the applicant intends to study.

However, there are some exceptions to the introduced caps and some applicants are not required to provide a provincial attestation letter. The onus is on the applicant to demonstrate they meet one of the exceptions listed. Officers should be satisfied with the documents submitted to assess whether the applicant falls under an exception.

Some Exceptions Include

Study permit applicants applying to study at the preschool, primary school or secondary school level (up to grade 12)

Study permit applicants applying to study in a master’s degree or doctorate degree program

Study permit applicants who after entering Canada:

Hold a valid study permit or apply for a study permit renewal

Apply within the period beginning 90 days before the expiry of their authorization to engage in studies in Canada and ending 90 days after that expiry

Hold a valid work permit

Hold a temporary resident permit (TRP) that is valid for at least 6 months

A temporary resident is a visiting or exchange student and is studying at a designated learning institution and completed a course or program of study that is a prerequisite to their enrolling at a designated learning institution.