As we edge towards a likely province-wide College Strike this Friday, many international students have contacted us, asking:
Will the College Strike Impact My Study Permit?
First, we need examine your Study Permit conditions.
According to the Government of Canada, as a Study Permit holder, you must:
Be enrolled at a Designated Learning Institution (DLI)
Show you're actively pursuing your studies
Tell if you change your School
End your studies if you no longer qualify as a student
Leave Canada when your Permit expires
The second point is the one we need to focus on, particularly it's sub-sections:
2. Show you're actively pursuing your studies, by:
Being enrolled full-time or part-time during each semester
Showing you're making progress towards completing your program's courses
Not taking authorized leaves longer than 150 days
If, and when, the College Faculty strike, all full-time classes will be suspended. In this case, a College Strike will be a disruption towards both first and second points, ie (a) being enrolled full-time & (b) showing progress you're making towards program completion.
Currently, the Government of Canada does not list a Labour Disruption as an exception to your Study Permit conditions, but does list similar situations for students facing disruptions out of their control.
To answer these questions, CSA will be hosting an upcoming Webinar with Immigration Lawyer and Expert, Amandeep Hayer. Check our Upcoming Events page for updates.
For now, you will want to look at extending your Study Permit, which can be done here.
To apply online, you will need to make sure you have the following:
A Scanner/Camera to create electronic copies of your documents
A valid credit or debit card
Keep in mind that the average processing time is 80 days, so apply NOW. For all the latest updates, follow us on our socials!
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