All study permit applications must be submitted online through an IRCC secure account. Applications submitted outside of Canada are processed by the Canadian visa office that serves the country where you are residing. If you are already in Canada, you may be able to apply for a study permit from within Canada if you meet the specific requirements. If you are a United States citizen or Green Card holder, or a resident of Greenland or Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, you may also apply at a Canadian port of entry. Determine where you can apply for your study permit.
The time it will take to process your application will vary, but you can check estimated processing times on the Government of Canada website. We recommend applying for your study permit as soon as you receive your Offer of Admission and Letter of Acceptance, and have collected all of the required documents.
If you were accepted to Waterloo as an exchange student, please visit the exchange page for more information about your immigration documents.
Please note: Due to variation among Canadian visa offices and the complexity of study permit applications abroad, the immigration consultants are unable to review applications being submitted outside of Canada or fully advise on application refusals outside of Canada.
Application Requirements
The following are required to apply for a study permit:
- Your official Offer of Admission and Letter of Acceptance from the University of Waterloo downloaded from Quest.
- A valid passport or travel document issued by your country of citizenship. When possible, obtain a passport that is valid for the entire duration of your study in Canada.
- Evidence of sufficient funds. You must provide proof that you have enough money for your tuition fees and living expenses, and to financially support any accompanying family members.
- A passport-sized photo of yourself that meets Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) specifications.
- A statement of purpose of study/study plan letter that you write.
- Give biometrics once the Biometrics Instruction Letter (BIL) appears in your online account after you submit the application. If you have given them in the past, check if your biometrics are still valid.
Other supporting documents may include:
- Proof of immigration medical exam
- Police certificate
- Custodianship declaration - Neither the University nor the Canadian government can assign a custodian. For more information, please see minor children guidelines
- Proof of tuition payment - Use the tuition fee estimator. The estimator will email you a PDF letter with the approximate amount of your total costs and instructions on how to pay your tuition in advance. After you have accepted your Offer of Admission and your payment has arrived, usually within 7-14 days after paying, you can log into your Quest account and email yourself an official tuition receipt to include in your study permit application
- Country-specific documents
- Documents requested by the visa office based on individual circumstances
Verify your country-specific study permit application requirements by:
Student Direct Stream:
You may be eligible to apply for your study permit through the Student Direct Stream if you are a legal resident from certain countries. This stream has additional application requirements to what is stated above, but generally applications through this stream are processed faster. Additional application requirements include:
- Proof of payment of tuition for the first year of study
- Proof of a Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) of $10,000 CAN
- A copy of the upfront medical exam document, and
- Qualifying language test results
- International English Language Testing System (IELTS) academic or general – a score of 6.0 or higher in each skill
- Test d’évaluation de français (TEF) – a score that is equal to a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) score of at least 7 in each skill
You may also need to provide additional documents depending on where you are applying from. If you don't meet the eligibility requirements for SDS, you can still apply through the regular study permit application process.
For the proof of tuition payment requirement, you can use Waterloo's tuition fee estimator to estimate your tuition fees. Once you've created your estimate, the estimator will email you a PDF letter with the approximate amount of your total costs and instructions on how to pay your tuition in advance. After you have accepted your Offer of Admission and your payment has arrived, usually within 7-14 days after paying, you can log into your Quest account and email yourself an official tuition receipt to include in your study permit application.
How to start an online application
- Go to the Government of Canada’s website and create/sign into your IRCC account. You can watch our video on creating an IRCC account if you haven't done this before.
- Under 'start an application' in your online account, select 'apply to come to Canada'.
- Under 'determine your eligibility and apply online', select ‘visitor visa, study and/or work permit’, and answer the eligibility questions to generate the document checklist.
Apply for a co-op work permit at the same time
If you are accepted into a co-op program at the University of Waterloo, you can apply for your co-op work permit together with your study permit. Make sure to indicate in your study permit application that you are also applying for a co-op work permit. Use your Letter of Acceptance in the application twice; once for proof of university acceptance, and again for proof of a co-op letter, with the Internship section highlighted. Application approval is determined by the Canadian visa office, and is not guaranteed.
If you are not issued co-op work permit approval or a co-op work permit at the port-of-entry into Canada, you can still apply for a co-op work permit once in Canada. We recommend applying right away after arriving at Waterloo.
You need your co-op work permit for all co-op placements. Make sure you have it before starting your first one.
Distance learning programs
Temporary policy from September 1, 2022 to December 31, 2023:
Distance learning is study through online courses or correspondence. A study permit cannot be issued for an online program. This does not include courses that were offered online solely due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some online programs could require an in-Canada portion. If the overall program, including the online components, is more than 6 months long, then a study permit is required for any length of in-Canada study.
If you plan to study in a program that has online courses or components completed from outside of Canada, and you are interested in applying for the post-graduation work permit (PGWP) to work in Canada after completing your degree, eligibility for the PGWP includes a requirement that less than 50% of the program’s total courses be completed through distance learning (i.e. online courses) and only time spent studying in Canada counts towards the length of the PGWP. Time spent studying outside Canada will count towards the length of the PGWP until December 31, 2023. Please see our post-graduation work permit page for more information.