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 for a decision?
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 local events that cause our government offices to close (like natural disasters or political tensions) or sometimes one or more decision-makers could be away causing more delay.
Depending on all the different factors, many study permit applications are decided in two or three weeks and many can take 4, 5, 6 months and 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.
What can you do before you apply for a Study Permit?
Make sure you have a general idea of how long it takes to process. If the estimate says 8 weeks and the semester you are applying for is in 4 weeks it is probably better to apply for a later semester. You can use the same link above to get a general idea.
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.
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