OWP to Study Permit - Need high school certification

[belle_aussie]

Hi guys, at my wits end here and need some advice.

I'm a 30-something Australian here on a 2-year OWP which is due to expire in August 2017. I finished high school in Australia but marginally did not pass, and am interested in completing courses here in Canada to complete my high school certificate and **hope** to do so with a Study Permit here in Canada. I have the list of approved schools to study, but I'm looking to find out if a course to complete my high school certificate is enough study to get a Study Permit from CIC? I'd be willing to take multiple courses to classify as "full-time" and to hit the requirement of a minimum of 8 months study but not sure if just high-school equivalency is enough.

I have called the schools I am interested in studying, but they weren't much help. Anyone got any info/experience with this? And am I allowed to work the 20-hours p/week right off the bat, or did I read correctly that you need to be studying for 6 months FIRST before you're allowed to work?

Thanks in advance!

 

[scylla]

You aren't allowed to work at all if you are studying at the high school level. You'll need to stop working as soon as your IEC expires. You are only allowed to work if you are studying at the post secondary school level.

If your studies are going to be full time and long than six months, this should be enough to get a study permit. Once you have a high school that's willing to accept you as a foreign student, you can apply for the study permit. You'll need to show available funds of at least $25K to show you can pay the foreign student tuition (around $14K per year) and also have enough money to pay for living expenses.

 

[belle_aussie]

Thanks for your quick reply Scylla, I didn't even realize you'd gotten back to me so quickly!

I appreciate your honest & factual answer! I'm now looking into doing my GED/High school equivalency to *at a later date* apply for Express Entry and come back to Canada. I'm now trying to find out, if passing my GED is sufficient in place of my high school certificate for EE? Does anyone know? My only other option to fully complete my high school certificate is a 12-month course out of Australia (online) and that's not my first choice :'(

Cheers!