CanadaWhat it is like here
Canada is one of very few countries where a college diploma leads to the same open post-study work permit a degree does, which is why its colleges recruit so heavily abroad. The catch arrived in November 2024: for non-degree programmes the field of study now has to be on a government list, and that list moved during 2025. Choosing the wrong programme costs the entire route.
How the process works
Check the field against the eligible list first
For a college programme this decides whether there is a post-study route at all.
Apply to the college and take the study permit
The same permit process as a degree, under the same provincial allocation.
What the first year asks for up front
Money a government or a school requires before the year starts. Listed one at a time and never added together: some of it is spent and some of it only has to exist.
Not money that is handed over. It is shown, and the department says in terms that it does not include tuition or transport. The department says the amounts are updated each year.
Applies from 2026-09-01 · the next amount is set on 2027-09-01 · we read this in 2026-09
The department’s own proof-of-financial-support page, which prints a table headed for all provinces and territories except Quebec: CAD 23,448 for one person for applications made on or after 1 September 2026, rising to CAD 62,054 for seven and CAD 6,318 for each further person. Search summaries were still giving the previous year’s CAD 22,895 when this was read.
Quebec sets its own and it is the higher of the two. It also covers different ground: the ministry lists health and hospitalisation insurance among the things the amount is for, while the federal figure names tuition and transport as excluded and says nothing about insurance. The ministry adjusts its amounts on 1 January, so the two figures on this page are not only different sizes but on different clocks.
Applies from 2026-01-01 · the next amount is set on 2027-01-01 · we read this in 2026-09
The Quebec government’s cost-of-studies page: CAD 24,617 for one person aged 18 or over for applications made from 1 January 2026, CAD 60,299 for six, and CAD 5,254 for each person beyond that.
we read this in 2026-09
The department’s fee list, which prices "Study permit (including extensions) per person" at CAD 150. The page carries a last-modified date of 2 July 2026.
One amount with a condition attached, rather than an amount that varies. The exemptions go by age and not by passport: nobody under 14 or over 79 pays it, and a United States citizen is not exempt.
we read this in 2026-09
The department’s biometrics page: CAN$85 for an individual applicant and a maximum of CAN$170 for a family applying at the same time, with exemptions listed for children under 14 and applicants over 79.
Applies from 2026-01-01 · the next amount is set on 2027-01-01 · we read this in 2026-09
The Quebec government’s temporary-selection-for-studies page: CAD 135 for an international student from 1 January 2026, on a page which says the fees are adjusted on 1 January of each year.
Every amount here is published as a number, so none of it had to be written as a rule instead. The one thing that is a rule is the schedule: both authorities say they revise their figures every year, on dates four months apart.
Two authorities publish these and they do not agree, which is most of what this block records. The federal department sets a cost-of-living amount for every province except Quebec and updates it each September; Quebec sets a higher one, covering slightly different ground, and updates it each January. A student going to Montreal meets both, the provincial certificate first and then the federal permit.