I volunteer at a settlement agency and it has been our understanding that refugee claimants (who are waiting for their hearings) can take ESL or other courses of less than 6 months duration without having to apply for a study permit. The ESL providers in my city have not been asking claimants to apply for study permits in these situations (LINC, on the other hand, only accepts permanent residents and protected persons/convention refugees). But recently we had a refugee claimant come in who had applied for admission to a health-related course (ie, not an ESL course) and was told by the school that she would need a study permit even though the course was less than 6 months duration. This prompted us to check the CIC site, and although it took awhile, we were surprised to find this:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/tools/temp/students/protected.asp
So, as it turns out, it looks like refugee claimants can not take advantage of the usual <6 month exemption, unless they already have temporary resident status as a visitor, worker or student. Just wondering if anyone else has encountered this? Is there some reason why ESL providers don't ask for a study permit but other courses do? Or have ESL providers been wrong all along in not asking for a study permit? We would not want refugee claimants to potentially jeopardize their claims by not obtaining study permits if that is the rule.
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/resources/tools/temp/students/protected.asp
So, as it turns out, it looks like refugee claimants can not take advantage of the usual <6 month exemption, unless they already have temporary resident status as a visitor, worker or student. Just wondering if anyone else has encountered this? Is there some reason why ESL providers don't ask for a study permit but other courses do? Or have ESL providers been wrong all along in not asking for a study permit? We would not want refugee claimants to potentially jeopardize their claims by not obtaining study permits if that is the rule.