Changing school or programme in Canada: you now need a new study permit
Since 8 November 2024 you can no longer change schools on the same study permit. You apply for a new one, and since 22 January 2025 you need a new attestation letter before you submit. The sequence, and what happens if you start classes first.
What changed, and when
Two dates govern this now, and both are recent enough that most advice online is out of date.
8 November 2024. You can no longer change designated learning institutions on the same study permit. Previously a post-secondary student could transfer by notifying IRCC through their account. Now you need a new study permit, which you get by applying to extend your current one and telling IRCC you are changing institutions.
22 January 2025. You must obtain a new attestation letter — a PAL, or a TAL in a territory — before you submit that application, unless you are exempt.
Together those mean a school transfer is no longer an administrative notification. It is an application, with a document that has to exist first.
Why the attestation letter is the hard part
The letter is tied to a specific institution. The one that supported your current permit does not travel with you.
To get a new one you generally have to accept the new offer and pay tuition, in part or in full, before the school will request it. So the order is:
- Offer from the new DLI — and check it is on the DLI list before anything else
- Accept, and pay what the school requires
- School requests the PAL or TAL; the province issues it
- Then submit the study permit application, telling IRCC you are changing institutions
- Wait — IRCC states around 60 days for a change to a new post-secondary DLI
Money moves at step two, before you know the permit outcome. That is the uncomfortable structure of it, and it is the same structure described in who needs a provincial attestation letter.
Do not start classes first
This is the mistake that costs the most, and it is usually made for understandable reasons — an intake starts, the fee is paid, and waiting feels like wasting a semester.
Wait for the new permit. There is one narrow exception: where your former DLI lost its designation, students may in certain cases be authorised to attend the new institution while the application is processed. If that is not your situation, it does not apply to you.
Studying at an institution your permit does not authorise is not invisible. Institutions report enrolment to IRCC twice a year through the compliance portal. That produces a record which follows you into every later application — and if it means you stopped attending the school named on your permit, it can engage the bar that blocks restoration for students, explained in out of status in Canada.
Changing programme, not school
The November 2024 change is about changing institutions. Moving between programmes inside the same DLI is a different question, and the answer depends on your permit's conditions and your situation.
Do not assume it is nothing. Read the conditions printed on your permit and confirm with your institution's international student office before you switch. The cost of asking is an email; the cost of assuming is your status.
Before you commit to a transfer
Four questions, in order:
- Is the new school on the DLI list? If not, nothing else matters.
- Will my current permit last through a 60-day process? If it expires mid-way, you are into extension timing and possibly maintained status.
- Can I get the attestation letter, and what will it cost me to trigger it?
- Does the new programme still support what I am here for? A transfer that shortens your programme below the PGWP threshold changes your plans after graduation, not just during.
If the reason for transferring is that the current school is not what was sold to you, that is a real and common reason — and worth reading do you need an agent to study abroad before you take the same advice twice.
Where we stop
We can tell you which institutions are designated, what programmes cost, and how long they run. We cannot tell you whether a transfer is right for your file, or what your current permit's conditions allow.
If your status is tight, that is a question for a licensed professional before you accept an offer, not after.
If you are already in Canada, start from where you are.
Sources: IRCC's changing your school or program and provincial attestation letter guidance.
This article reflects the rules published at the time of writing, 16 August 2026. Study permit rules have changed repeatedly since 2024 — verify against canada.ca before you act. It is not legal advice about your own file.