It's summer, for crying out loud! The heat, the beach, ice cream, no coats, no boots, no shoveling, flowers and trees in full bloom, vegetable and fruit produce aplenty. Summer tires, convertible tops down, radios blaring, loads of pedestrian-traffic downtown, air-conditioning. Day camp, overnite camp, bbq's, summer decks, ice cubes and lemonade. Rain, laundry hanging to dry on clotheslines, alternate-side parking, going to the park with your kids, sidewalk sales. Crocs! Bumping into friends on the street you haven't seen all winter. Going on vacation. It's a great time, summer. Nature's breather until fall comes around knockin' at our doors to make sure that we don't forget that winter is really but a bitterly cold day away. Sorry to interrupt your summer's daydream and remind you of the autumn, but there are pressing matters which must be attended to now and cannot wait until after the summer. Namely: are you, your child or someone you know from outside Canada, planning to come study in Quebec (or Canada) for the academic year of 2007-08? If so, the information in this post is vital for you.Generally speaking, Canada allows non-Canadian visitors into her borders for short visits, usually for a period of up to six months at a time. Depending on country of origin, a person may or may not require a permit or visa to enter. Thus, for example, US citizens may normally enter Canada for a period of up to six months with no visitor visa necessary; Venezuelans, on the other hand, will require a visitor visa.
These 'temporary' guests are allowed to come and...visit. And that's it! They are not allowed to work and /or study, unless they have first received a special dispensation from the federal government for that purpose, namely a work or study permit. In this post, I would like to discuss study permits.
Coming to study in Canada can truly be an exciting and rewarding experience. In Quebec, our educational system has many fine world-class institutions, in good company with the better known international ones. Open up a Montreal Yellow Pages and a quick survey of schools will indicate that indeed, there is almost every kind of educational possibility available here in Quebec. Coupled with a sizable and varied international student body (last year about 25,000 persons came from around the world), studying here is an experience that can provide anyone with a great future and a lifetime of precious memories.
Furthermore, our bilingual French and English character acts as a true-life laboratory language experiment. (Just promise yourself that you will ignore and stay away from associated political overtones.) The fact is that there is no other city in the world that can rival our bilingual (or even multi-lingual) status. Even if you were to choose to live and function in a unilingual English or French environment, you could not help but be infected, one way or another, with the feeling of cosmopolitanism that one gets from living in a city that speaks these two beautiful international tongues.
And finally, who can forget the weather?! Ah, the weather! You have to accept it , to embrace it, to love it. Summers are great, but aahh...the winters! The snow, the snowstorms, the piles and piles of snow, the cold, the brutal cold. And yes, the skiing, the skating, the sledding and being the first to make footprints and imprints in the snow, anticipating that loud crunch under your boots. Or if you're not the sporty type and would rather prefer winter cocooning, well, there's lots of that too. How's standing inside your cozy living room late at night, staring out the window, basking in the heat pouring out of your radiator while nursing a double, steaming hot chocolate, mindlessly watching the cascading sheets of snow accumulate in artful and deliberate snow dunes, burying trees, cars and anything left helplessly outside. Or perhaps simply cultivating and nurturing relationships by just spending more time with friends and family indoors. Montreal is not your beach destination getaway. This climate builds character and really must be experienced.
OK, you're convinced. You're coming. Great!
However, in order to be able to come take advantage of the Quebec / Canada learning experience, you must first obtain a study permit if you are not a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident and to this there is some effort and focus involved. It's not as simple as coming to Quebec for a visit, deciding on a school, filling in the application, going off to some downtown government office and receiving the study permit that day. If only! On the other hand, it's not an impossible task to do either, but it does require will, patience and planning. There are many tasks and details to pay attention to, which eventually all come together in your application.
Planning is crucial because even when you think that you're on top of your application and that you've got your end covered pat, you might quite rudely discover that suddenly you have to contend with external, unforeseeable and development-delaying circumstances over which you have utterly and absolutely no control! For example, you're ready to send out your application, but need some small information / a letter from your intended school or your bank or whomever. Guess what? You call them, only to be told that they're closed / gone off on vacation for three weeks till the end of whenever / working on a reduced staff / can't find your file or some other willy-nilly excuse and you're left holding the bag. The government-person-type who will ultimately be processing your application at the receiving end is certainly reviewing many, many others as well and if you want your application to be processed properly and quickly, without getting stuck in the system, you want to be 100% sure that you have crossed your t's and dotted your i's. Your application must be complete and perfect.
Coupled with the above, according to statistical information provided by the CIC for the period of April '06 to March '07, it took an average of a minimum of 28 working days (which translates into much more time when you include those inevitable nasty statutory holidays, Saturdays and Sundays) to process a study permit. This number has to be higher prior to the start of the school year.
Also, you have to be in possession of your initial study permit before you come to Canada as a student. You cannot come in as a visitor and then obtain your study permit. It is regularly not possible to have an initial study permit request completed in Canada.
Unfortunately, I have been contacted by would-be students to Quebec, who have been stymied by such a lack of proper planning. Believe me, it's upsetting to see how distraught these potential students become when they encounter these otherwise avoidable delays. Thus, in order to avoid big-time aggravation and disappointment, as well as possibly missing those seriously crucial first days of school, when everybody else gets the best ofs, it it absolutely necessary to start thinking and acting on your study permit now, if you haven't already begun.
Very generally and in a nutshell, in order to get a study permit, a person must submit the following:
- all the completed forms and documentation;
- a letter of acceptance from the school which he/she plans on attending;
- proof that he/she has enough financial funds to cover the tuition; and living expenses and return transportation at the end of the studies for all family members;
- proof that he/she will be leaving Canada at the expiry of the study permit (don't worry - renewals are possible);
- a police certificate with a clean police record, if requested;
- a medical examination, if necessary; and
- additionally, Quebec-bound students must first obtain a CAQ or a Certificat d’acceptation du Québec (Certificate of Acceptance) from the Quebec government, before applying for a Canadian study permit.
As Quebec provides health insurance to all her citizens, it is necessary for a visiting student to also prove that he/she is in possession of valid health insurance.
Depending on where you are coming from will also determine where your application for the study permit must be presented.
Thousands of people come to Quebec / Canada each year, in many different capacities. You can too. Put down the suntan lotion and get crackin'. Good luck!
