Study in Canada

Canada has sharply reduced the number of new international students since 2024, welcoming about 61% fewer in 2025 than the year before. For 2026 it planned up to 408,000 study permits, including 155,000 for newly arriving students. Places are limited, but graduates can still stay on to work, and because the provinces run education, some rules vary by province.

Types of institutions

• Universities award bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees. Most are public.
• Colleges and institutes (also called polytechnics, community colleges or, in Quebec, CEGEPs) focus on practical, job-related training. They mainly award certificates and diplomas, although some offer bachelor's degrees too.
• Designated Learning Institutions (DLIs) are schools approved by a province or territory to host international students. You need an acceptance letter from one to get a study permit, and the official list shows which can lead to a post-graduation work permit.

Degrees and how long they take

• College certificate: usually 1 year. Diploma: usually 2 to 3 years.
• Bachelor's degree: 3 to 4 years.
• Master's degree: 1 to 2 years.
• PhD (doctorate): usually 3 to 5 years after a master's.

How much it costs

Statistics Canada puts average international tuition for 2026/27 at $42,062 a year for undergraduate degrees and $24,693 a year for graduate degrees (all figures in Canadian dollars). Location matters: average undergraduate tuition ranges from $18,911 in Newfoundland and Labrador to $50,088 in Ontario.

You must also prove you can cover living costs without working in Canada. For applications made on or after 1 September 2026, a single student outside Quebec needs $23,448 for the first year, on top of first-year tuition and travel. IRCC updates this figure every year, and Quebec sets its own.

Applying

• Most programmes start in September, and many also take students in January.
• Ontario has central systems: the Ontario Universities' Application Centre (OUAC) for universities and OntarioColleges.ca for colleges. Elsewhere, you usually apply directly to the school.
• Each school sets its own deadlines; the University of Toronto's final undergraduate deadline for September 2027 entry is 15 January 2027.
• If English is not your first language, you will usually need IELTS Academic, TOEFL or similar; the University of Toronto, UBC and McGill all ask for IELTS Academic 6.5 with no band below 6.0.

Getting your study permit

1. Get an acceptance letter from a DLI.
2. Get a Provincial or Territorial Attestation Letter (PAL/TAL) if needed, which confirms your place under the national cap; your school will explain how. Most undergraduate and college students need one, but since 1 January 2026 master's and doctoral students at a public DLI do not. A 2026 PAL is valid until 31 December 2026. In Quebec, you need a Quebec Acceptance Certificate (CAQ) instead.
3. Gather proof of funds.
4. Apply online, paying the $150 study permit fee and the $85 biometrics fee, and then give your fingerprints and photo at a visa application centre.

Your study permit names your school, so changing school after you arrive means applying for a new permit.

Working while you study

• Off campus: up to 24 hours a week during term, with unlimited hours during scheduled breaks such as the summer holidays.
• On campus: does not count towards the 24-hour limit.
• Co-op and internships: since 1 April 2026, required placements no longer need a separate work permit.

Working after you graduate

The Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) lets you work for any employer in Canada for up to 3 years. Your programme must last at least 8 months at a PGWP-eligible DLI, and you must apply within 180 days of finishing.

• Bachelor's, master's and PhD graduates: any field of study qualifies, but you need English or French at Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) 7 in all four skills.
• College and other non-degree graduates: you need CLB 5. If you applied for your study permit on or after 1 November 2024, your programme must also be in an eligible field linked to job shortages; this list is frozen for 2026.
• A master's programme of at least 8 months can lead to a 3-year PGWP, while other programmes under 2 years usually give a PGWP as long as the programme itself.

Take a language test IRCC accepts for the PGWP; its list differs from the one universities use.

Recent rule changes

In force now:

• 2024: the study permit cap and PAL/TAL began, the Student Direct Stream closed on 8 November, and the PGWP language and field-of-study rules started.
• 21 January 2025: open work permits became limited to spouses of students in master's programmes of 16 months or more, doctoral programmes or certain professional degrees.
• 2026: master's and PhD students became exempt from PAL/TAL (1 January), co-op work permits ended (1 April) and proof of funds went up (1 September).

Announced or proposed, not yet in force: the 2027–2029 Immigration Levels Plan, published on 5 November 2026, targets 150,000 new student arrivals in each year from 2027 to 2029. The 2027 cap and provincial allocations had not been published by 13 November 2026. IRCC has also proposed letting students keep working while awaiting a study permit extension or PGWP decision, but this is not yet law.