College conditional acceptance w/ English course - eligible for study permit?

[methyl]

Hi, Seneca college accepted an international student into a diploma program. Because the English test score was not great they required to take some English courses starting Sept 2018 till December. The student did not apply for a study permit as these courses are not part of the main program.
In January more English courses start, including a course in Business English, which IS a part of the diploma program. In May the student is supposed to start the actual diploma program.

According to CIC,
You can study at any school in Canada without a study permit if:

• your course or program is for six months or less
• your studies aren’t part of a longer program and
• you will complete all your studies within the time we approved you to stay in Canada (usually six months after you enter).

It's not clear how this applies to what the college is trying to do.

I am wondering about the following:
Would the student legally need a study permit for January, considering that part (Business English course) of the 2-year program starts in January? If so, how would he get it considering that only a course or two (less than full-time) are actually part of the program.
And in general, how does the process usually work in such cases and how to switch from visitor status to study permit?

Immigration advisers at the college that assist international students have been less than helpful in resolving these questions, even downright confrontational when shown actual

 

[selvakk]

I am assuming by your post you are not the actual person concerned and he/she is actually in Canada. My suggestion would be to ask the student to contact an immigration lawyer to get the most accurate information but here is my suggestion.

Assuming that:-

1) The English course (s) are completely separate from the program that the student is going to attend.
2) Assuming he is not eligible for an eTA he has a TRV (temporary resident visa) and is currently legally studying in Canada as his program is less than 6 months.

Canada does not technically have a tourist visa. As he is currently on a TRV visa with a visitor status ( this is different from a visa) he cannot work and can only study in a course of 6 months or less.

At this point, unless the student applies for a student permit ( he is changing his temporary resident status ) within Canada which is allowed in certain situations he will have to leave at the end of the English courses he is undertaking which is December.

Seeing as the CIC rules state that -

You can study at any school in Canada without a study permit if:

• your studies aren’t part of a longer program and

and since the Business English is part of the Diploma course you should ask the student to apply for the study permit starting from January for the diploma course ASAP. While he has implied status if he applies from Canada he cannot start the Business English course as that requires a study permit since it is part of the diploma course.

P.S: It isn't clear that the other English courses you mentioned is a separate program or is also part of the diploma course. For example, do you mean to say that Business English is also a course that is there in the diploma program? If both the courses have the same code he/she can get a course credit and does not have to do that class during the diploma program.

As the student arrived in September 2018 according to CIC rules he/she can be in the country only till February 2018. Any stay after that will have to be submitted to the CIC either to extend the stay as a visitor or apply for a study permit. You will have to leave the country after February 2018 or until your course finishes whichever comes earlier.