There are no fixed time frames for how long it can take to get a decision for an application for a study permit from the Government of Canada.
What can you do if you're waiting?
You can get a general idea of how long the process takes by following these steps.
Step 1 Go to this link
Step 2 Select Temporary residence (visiting, studying, working)
Step 3 Select Study permit (from outside Canada).
You will get an estimated total of how long study permits are taking at the time you enter this information.
IMPORTANT:
The actual processing time may be much slower or much faster than the estimated time.
There are many factors that can affect the time frames: including the country you live in and how busy the office responsible for that country is, the time of year because some times like June, July and August are extremely busy, any complications in your file. Other factors can include events that cause our government offices to close. In the pandemic, many Canadian operations have had to close as part of the requirements of the cities or countries where they are located.
This means some study permit applications can take 4, 5, 6 months and much less commonly, even longer than that.
How do you know your application has been received?
Canada Immigration states:
"If we begin to process your application, we’ll send you an acknowledgement of receipt letter or email with an application number."
This is very important and make sure you keep a record of this application number.
If you are working with a CUAC office anywhere in the world, our staff will always have the latest estimated time period for study permit processing and we can advise you if there is something in your file that may lead to delay.
Be sure to consult our events page at cuac.ca/events
