Only Permanent Residents are entitled to status documents. Status documents include the PR Card (for people in Canada), and the PRTD (for people outside Canada). The right to study and enter visa free is part of the right of a Permanent Resident, and you have those rights regardless of whether or not one has a status document (PR Card).
If he holds PR status, he is not an international student. There is no “till he gets PR”: he has it, or he doesn’t. What he lacks is a status document, which the school may require to let him study without a study permit. He can’t get a study permit, as he is a Permanent Resident, and Permanent Residents are not eligible for them.
When you are examined (which happens when applying for a PRTD or PR card), they may see that he was not in compliance with his residency obligation. If he has been in Canada in the past year, he is entitled to come to Canada to fight his case, and if he wins he maintains his status. If he has not been in Canada during the last year, he can’t come to Canada, but he can still fight to keep his status (for example, by giving H&C reasons). He remains a Permanent Resident, forever, until he loses it. Losing it can happen by giving it up, becoming a citizen, or by losing a hearing on ones residency obligation.
