goldmoon said:
Actually yes it was expired. But CIC gives u 90 days in which you can restore that status, within that 90 days I applied for PR.
But why do I need a permit to do an online degree? If I were at home I don't need one so what is the difference? I am curious...
Since your case is not a typical case, I am not sure how to answer your question then. Even though CIC give you 90 days to renew your status/extend it, your student visa has expired. This is a unique case. You applied for PR instead of renewing/extending student visa. So I don't know how to answer it.
I think it is a case of you physically being in Canada that require you to have a study visa to take courses. So you could be in your own home country and take online courses provided you pay all the fees required. You are now in Canada so rules apply different. The visas are given based on your intention inside Canada. You were given a study visa to study courses inside Canada. People get visitor visa to visit canada thus not allowed to take courses while in Canada. Same probably goes for work visa. You come to work in canada not to study. It is all about your intention inside canada.
You can take online courses from your own country because you are not required to physically be inside canada to take the courses. Just pay the international student fees online. Thus you do not need study visa while in own country.
There are cases whereby people came in to canada on study visa and get deported after getting married. Some CIC agents may believe they came in on false intentions. Using a study visa to get married in Canada even though they did take courses while there. Don't mean to scare you on that premise. They fall in a very small minority of cases whereby there was evidence of coming to canada through false means. Say a case of being denied a tourist visa, so they apply for student visa to come and get married in Canada. That sort of thing.
Back to your original question of being able to take online courses. Based on the premise that your student visa expired prior to sponsorship and you are physically in Canada, I don't think you can take any education courses until your PR process is done, or at least AIP. Once you get AIP, you can change your status to study visa so you can take courses.
Screech339