COVID-19 Applications cannot currently be made in person at VACs because of their closing or reduction in services.  Applications must be made online, unless you suffer from a handicap or experience technical issues with the online application.  

Some Canadian visa offices (CVO: embassy, high commission or consulate) allow you to start your Study Permit application at the same time as the CAQ for studies process. 

• Certain CVOs allow applicants to send their Study Permit application before they receive approval of the CAQ. To determine if you can proceed this way, contact the Visa Application Center (VAC) nearest to you in your country of residence. Visa Application Centrers receive visa applications on behalf of CVOs and also answer applicant questions. Note that if you want to apply for your Study Permit before having received your CAQ, it will not be possible to submit an online application. If this is the case, you may have to complete a paper application, and apply using a VAC. If you proceed this way, you would receive a letter near the end of the processing of Study Permit application, requesting you provide the CVO with the CAQ approval letter. If you cannot provide the CVO with proof of approval in sufficient time, your Study Permit application may be rejected.  

Other CVOs require the CAQ Certificate to be issued in order to apply for a Study Permit:

• In this case: start your Study Permit application as soon as you receive confirmation of CAQ Certificate issuance. You could be able to request emergency processing of your application. To determine if you qualify for this option, contact the VAC responsible for your country or region. In this case, you may have to complete a paper application and apply using a VAC. 

COVID-19  Note that currently, applications can only be made online, unless the applicant suffers from a handicap that prevents him or her to use a computer or experience technical issues with the online application.  In this instance, the application can be sent by mail.  If you are not able to provide all the documents requested when submitting your application (ex: medical exams, police certificates).  You will need to write a letter explaining why you cannot provide some documents and send it along with the rest of your application.  IRCC will give you 30 days to provide them with the missing documents.  If needed, you can then request an extension of this delay by providing a justification.  Based on your explanation, the agent will decide whether to allow you more time to gather the documents, or make a decision according to the documents already provided.  For more details on missing documents.  

One-term exchange students applying for a SP:

when using the online tool, you must say you’ll be studying in Canada for longer than 6 months. This is to make sure you get the correct forms for a study permit application.

When you fill out the PDF forms:

• your answers must be accurate, since they’re now part of your application
• list the actual dates you’ll be studying, to let us know you’ll be studying for less than 6 months

Consult this guide for help with your study permit application.

Under normal circumstances, you can apply for a study permit:

• Either in hard copy by sending or bringing in person the appropriate forms to a VAC that receives applications for the country you are living in. You must complete the application form for a study permit made outside Canada, the checklist of documents and attach the required documents. You may submit the application in a VAC located in a country where you have been legally admitted, other than your country of nationality. For a fee, VACs also offer the possibility of assisting you to fill out study permit applications.
• Either online, by using the online service MyCIC. To use this service, you need to scan your documents and pay online by credit card. 

Please note that the requirements for obtaining a study permit may vary from country to country. Refer to the Instructions Guide (IMM5269) and consult your local visa instructions to check whether you must complete additional forms and provide other documents.  Documents generally requested are as follows:

• Proof of acceptance: Original or photocopy of your letter of acceptance issued by Polytechnique Montréal;
• Proof of Identity: Photocopy of your valid passport;
• The CAQ (Certificate of Acceptance of Quebec) or the letter of approval of the CAQ.  If you come on a one-term exchange program, you do not need a CAQ for studies.  You must upload an explanatory letter in the field reserved for the CAQ for Studies. This letter must state that because you are part of an exchange program that lasts less than 6 months, you are exempt from the obligation of holding a CAQ for Studies. A standardized letter will be emailed to you in at an appropriate time, by the Exchange Program team (etudiant.echange@polymtl.ca).
• Recent evidence of financial resources (you can usually use the same documents as for the CAQ, if you had to provide them, but make sure that they are no more than three months old).
• ID Photo to the standards of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
• Biometrics
• Depending on your nationality or the place where you legally reside, you might need to pass a medical exam or provide a police certificate

A provision of the Immigration Act allows you to apply for a study permit upon arriving to Canada on presentation of the documents listed above, if you are:

• Citizen of the USA
• Permanent resident of the USA 
• Resident of Greenland
• Resident of St-Pierre-et-Miquelon

When applying at a port of entry (POE), the application is processed immediately by a Canadian Border Agent. If your application is approved, you leave the POE with your study permit in hands.

To the exception of American citizens, the above-mentionned people will need to have obtained an eTA to board a plane for Canada.  

If you are not a national in the above-mentionned list, you will have to apply for a study permit and receive its approval prior to coming to Canada.

The study plan document is used to demonstrate to the immigration officer processing your application that you are a bona fide student, and that you will comply with the conditions of your stay once you arrive in Canada.

Providing a study plan is a requirement for students who live in certain parts of the world. Further, we strongly recommend that students from countries that have a high rate of study permit rejection submit a study plan, even when it is not on the list of required documents from their Canadian visa office.

See our instructions for writing an effective study plan (.pdf)

In your application, you must prove that you can afford to pay your tuition and living expenses and if applicable, those of your family members that will remain with you during your stay in Canada. If you have already provided this evidence to obtain a CAQ, we suggest you essentially use the same pieces of evidence, just make sure that these proofs are no more than two months old. Visit the IRCC website for more information on financial ressources evidences.  To know more about the kind of financial capacity documents that are accepted by your visa office, consult the Guide on Applying for a Study Permit outside of Canada, as well as your local visa office instructions.

You do not need to demonstrate that you have from the start the financial resources to cover the entire lenght of your studies.  The CVO will ask you to proove your financial capacity for the first year.  However, for study permit issuance purposes, the agent who will process your application will need to establish that it is likely that the funds will remain available for the duration of your studies.  To this end, we advise you to provide a variety of documents, including documents that demonstrate consistent income, such as a letter of employment, a guarantor’s pay slips, etc. Each person who will provide for you during your studies must give financial proofs,including a letter signed by them confirming their intention to support you financially.

If you are coming on a one-term or two-term exchange program, you will need to meet the minimum financial requirements for the number of months that you expect to spend in Canada. 

If financial assistance is provided by your supervisor, make sure to add the letter confirming the annual amount granted.  You supervisor does not need to fill out a separate declaration of financial support.  

Note that the amount of your tuition fees is normally indicated on your letter of admission. If you are a one or two-terms exchange student,  immigration authorities will take into account the fact that your tuition is paid in your home educational institution. As a result, tuition fees won’t factor into the calculation of your financial capacity.

If you are a French national or have obtained an exemption of the differential fees for International students, immigration will calculate your fees accordingly, upon presentation of your French passport or confirmation of your exemption.

Polytechnique Montréal does not request payment of tuition fees before the start of the program.  You may however have to pay for the first term or the first year of study as part of your study permit application process, upon request by your CVO.  In certain cases, it can be a good idea to proceed with an advance payment, in order to help prove that you meet the minimal financial capacity to carry out your study project. 

Moreover, students legally residing in China, India, Brazil, Pakistan, Colombia, Vietnam and a few other countries can get their study permit faster by using the Student Direct Stream (SDS). Most applications submitted through this method can be processed within 20 calendar days.  Note that students residing in countries where the SDS is available are still entitled to submit their application under the regular study permit permit application stream.  One of the documents required by IRCC is the “proof that you have paid the tuition fees for your first year of study”. 

Here is how to proceed in order to pay in advance for your tuition fees:

• You must start by estimating your tuition fees using the amounts indicated on your offer of admission.
• You then need to proceed with the payment of your tuition fees using the Convera online platform and note down your transaction reference number.
• In order to receive a proof of tuition fees payment by Polytechnique Montréal, you need to send an email to the Finance Department: compte-etudiant.finances@polymtl.ca. You must indicate your name, first name, student ID at Polytechnique and your Convera transaction reference number.  
• Amounts paid for tuition fees will never be reimbursed in cash to the student. If the final bill for your first year is less than the amount paid, the amounts will be credited by Polytechnique for the payment of tuition fees for the next terms
• If you do not end up registering at Polytechnique, the amounts paid will only be refunded to the account and to the person who originally sent the money.  To retrieve your payment, you will need to write again to compte-etudiant.finances@polymtl.ca with the same information provided during the initial transaction.  

Other documents required for SDS, such as a proof of a Guaranteed Investment Certificate and proofs of a valid language test results do not concern Polytechnique. We invite you to carefully read about SDS requirements on the IRCC website to see whether you can meet them.

COVID-19:  International students applying from abroad may not be able to provide their biometric data. If the Visa Application Centre (VAC) closest to you is closed, or if appointments are not available in the short-term, follow these instructions.

You must provide your biometric data at a VAC to finalize your study permit application processing.  You will not be allowed to come to Canada until you have received approval for all your documents - including your study permit and your eTA or TRV.

Only students who are authorized by law to apply for a Study Permit at a port of entry (airport, land or sea) may submit their biometric data upon arrival in Canada. 

Consult the IRCC website for updates to VAC service statuses. To learn more about biometric data collection easing measures, please refer directly to the IRCC website dedicated to this topic.

If you are already in Canada and you have filed an initial Student Visa extension request, the IRCC is temporarily setting aside the mandatory requirement to provide biometric data, given that Service Canada offices have not yet reopened to provide the aforementioned data collection services.

All study permit applicants need to provide their biometrics when applying to a Canadian Visa Office (CVO) abroad or from inside Canada, unless they have already provided them to IRCC in the last ten years in a prior application.  

Biometrics consist of a photography and fingerprints and are used by the Canadian government to establish a person's identity. The cost for providing biometrics is $85 (or $170 maximum per family unit) and to do so, you will have to go in person to an Application Support Center in the USA or to a Visa Application Center (VAC) in other countries.  When submiting an in-Canada application, biometerics must be provided in designated Service Canada Office.

If you have to provide your biometrics, you can still make an online application for your study permit.  IRCC will upload a biometric instruction letter to your MyCIC account within 24 hours of you having submitted your study permit application.  Follow the instructions in the letter. Print a copy of the letter and bring it along with the required documents when going to the biometric collection centre.  Take note that processing times on the IRCC website do not include the time it would take you to go to a VAC to provide your biometrics.  

Once collected, biometrics remain valid for ten years. 

It should be noted that a person who resided for more than six months in some parts of the world during the past year must undergo a medical examination (and assume the cost) from a doctor approved by IRCC (also called "Panel physician") . The exam can be taken before submitting the study permit application, or after, once you receive instructions from the visa office.  If you choose the second option, be aware that overall processing times will be longer.

COVID-19: Should you be unable to pass a medical examination by a Panel Physician due to the closing of clinics in your country, know that your study permit application will not be refused for this reason.  Just add an explanation letter stating the reasons why you have not been able to undergo a medical examination.  IRCC should provide you with 30 days to pass the exam, and in some cases an additional extension can be granted. For more information. 

Processing fees are $150 CAN. Check the payment methods and currencies accepted by the visa office in your country.

COVID-19: Processing times on the IRCC website are an estimation and may not reflect real processing times. 

It is not possible to request a rush processing of an application, nor can Polytechnique Montréal contact CVOs to ask that processing be sped up.  If your application is taking longer than average times advertised, you can check your application status on the IRCC website.  If you have specific questions to ask or need to update your application with new information, you can also send a webform.