How to Apply for Canada Study Permit from Your Home

Apply for Canada Study Permit: Getting an acceptance letter from a Designated Learning Institute (or a Canadian School) is the first step to going to Canada. The next and very important step is getting a Canada Study Permit. Truth is, without a Canada Study permit, your acceptance letter is just another piece of paper that you can’t actually use.

I understand that getting started with your Canada study permit can be confusing and most of the articles out there rather beat around the bush than tell you how you can actually do it. Well, in this article, I’ll be sharing the simple steps you can get started with your Canada Study permit application.

Note that this article does not include tips on how to get your Canada Study to permit approved. I’ll write about that in another article so don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter for more updates.

Documents you need to Apply for Canada Study Permit

To apply for a Canadian study permit, you need to have the following documents:

Apply online
Letter of Acceptance (LOA)
Proof of Financial Support
International Passport
Passport Photograph
Proof of Home ties
Statement of Purpose (SOP)
Fill out various IRCC forms online
Pay Application Fee

Apply Online

IRCC Log in page

The application for a Canada study permit can be done online. In fact, IRCC wants applicants to use the online portal to submit their Canada Study permit applications. To start the application, go to the official IRCC website, create a GCKEY account, and start an application. Note that all Canada study permit applications have a lifespan of 60 days. If after 60 days you have not submitted the application, it’ll automatically be deleted.

Letter of Acceptance

Before you can apply for a Canadian study permit, you need a letter of acceptance of admission offer letter from a university or college in Canada. The school must be a Designated Learning Institute (DLI) with a DLI number. You can check all Canadian schools with the DLI numbers Here. Make sure that the school offering you admission has a DLI number and check with the link above to confirm. A Canadian school without a DLI number is not recognized by the Canadian government.

Proof of Financial Support

You need to have the money of finance that will be able to pay for the cost of your tuition and living expenses for the period of your study. Tuition fees defer depending on your program and the length of the program but living expenses are pretty much standard in Canada. According to IRCC, you need about 10,000 CAD yearly for your living expenses. This is why I advise you to add 10,000 CAD to your tuition fee.

For example, let’s say your tuition fee for the first year is 12,000 CAD, this means your Proof of financial support for the first year will be 12,000 CAD + 10,000 CAD = 22,000 CAD. Do this for any other subsequent year you’re going to spend in Canada. If you’re planning to travel with another person, then you’ll have to add 3,000 CAD to the living expenses making it 13,000 CAD monthly.

International Passport

Your international passport is also referred to as your traveling document. If your international passport expires in the next 6 months, I’ll advise you to go and renew it and apply using the new international passport.

Passport Photograph

You need to upload a passport photograph to the IRCC portal. There are specific dimensions required by IRCC and your passport photograph needs to follow the guideline. Also, make sure that your face is bright, your ears are showing, and your eyes are well-lit. Don’t wear a face cap, scarf, eyeglasses, etc. while taking your passport photograph (it’s a passport photograph not a photo for the gram).

Proof of Home Ties

Proof of Home ties is another document you need to put in place before you apply for a Canadian study permit. This document should show the ties you have in Nigeria or your country like your parents, landed properties (if any), car owned (if any), siblings, a business owned (if any), etc.

Statement of Purpose

The statement of purpose or SOP is usually a letter addressed to a visa agent explaining why you want to go and study in Canada. This letter is meant to show your intent for applying for the Canada study permit.

Various IRCC forms

IRCC will request you fill out various IRCC forms and submit them online. There are about three IRCC forms you need to fill out. They are imm1294e, imm5257b, and imm5645e. You’ll download these forms as PDF files and edit them using ADOBE Acrobat for PC.

List of IRCC required documents

Pay Permit Application Fee

When you have the documents above in place, then you need to upload them to the respective feeds. You can combine some of the PDF files but make sure they’re not more than 4MB. For any file that is more than 4MB, you need to reduce the size of that file. You can use this free online PDF file compressor to reduce the size of your PDF file.

After uploading the required documents, you’ll need to click the submit button, pay the application fee, and wait for messages (via email) from IRCC on the status of your application.