On Jan 22, 2024 Canada announced temporary changes to stabilize the number of new study permits issued for the next two years. Please take note of these important details relevant to graduate applicants/students:
- The international student cap on study permits does not apply to applicants to Master’s and Doctoral degrees.
- Applicants to Master’s and Doctoral degrees will not require a Provincial Attestation Letter.
- Current study permit holders will not be affected by the cap.
- Study permit renewals inside Canada will not be impacted by the cap.
- There is no change regarding eligibility for Post-Graduation Work Permits (PGWP) with respect to UBC graduates, i.e. students continue to be eligible.
- As of Feb 15, 2024, graduates of master's degree programs are eligible for a 3-year Post-Graduation Work Permit, even if the program is less than 2 years, so long as they meet the PGWP eligibility requirements. Graduate certificates and diplomas are not master's degrees and thus do not qualify for this.
- Spouses and common-law partners of students in graduate degrees remain eligible for open work permits.
- Additional note: UBC is a government approved Designated Learning Institution (DLI) with DLI number O19330231062.
On Dec 7, 2023 Canada announced that the cost-of-living financial requirement for study permit applicants will be raised because the value had not been changed since the early 2000s and hasn’t kept up with living costs over time. Moving forward, this threshold will be adjusted each year when Statistics Canada updates the low-income cut-off (LICO). This change applies to new study permit applications received on or after January 1, 2024.
We will provide further updates as they become available.
For the latest updates please review the information published by UBC's International Student Development