Study Permit Extension Canada: how and when to apply

What are the current study permit extension rules and fees?

As of 4 October 2026, IRCC requires an online application at least 30 days before expiry, charges $150 per person, shows 8 weeks of processing, and requires a new attestation letter only when you change school or level.

The table lists each figure with the page it comes from and the day we read it.

When should you apply to extend your study permit?

Apply at least 30 days before your study permit expires, and earlier if you can, because processing times vary; if you apply before expiry and stay in Canada, you can keep studying under your current conditions until IRCC decides (canada.ca, checked 4 October 2026).

Your expiry date is printed under “additional information” on the permit. It is usually the length of your study program plus 90 days, and the permit cannot run past your passport's expiry date, so renew an expiring passport before you apply.

IRCC shows 8 weeks to process an extension applied for today, so a file submitted exactly 30 days before expiry will usually still be pending when the permit expires. That is allowed and you stay on maintained status, but it limits what you can do while you wait, as the table in the section on working and studying below shows. IRCC's own guide says you may want to apply earlier than the 30-day mark because processing times vary.

How do you extend a study permit step by step?

You extend a study permit by checking your conditions, getting a letter from your school, answering IRCC's online questions, uploading your documents, paying the fees and submitting through your IRCC secure account before the permit expires.

This is the process for a permit you already hold. If you are applying for a first study permit, start with our study permit guide.

1. 01

   Check your conditions and passport

   You must still be enrolled at the school named on your permit and actively pursuing your studies. Check that your passport stays valid past the end date you are asking for.

2. 02

   Get your letter from the school

   Your school gives you a letter of acceptance (new students) or a letter of enrolment (current students). Upload it in the letter-of-acceptance space on the online application, and collect transcripts from your last two terms or a registrar's letter confirming your standing.

3. 03

   Answer IRCC's online questions

   IRCC uses your answers to build your personalized document checklist. If you are changing to a new post-secondary school, answer “Yes” to the changing-school question to get the 60-day processing.

4. 04

   Gather proof of funds and other documents

   Bank statements, a guaranteed investment certificate (GIC), a loan or a sponsor letter covering tuition, living costs and travel. Add a new attestation letter if you change school or level, and a letter explaining why you are changing schools.

5. 05

   Pay the fees

   Pay $150 per person, plus biometrics if IRCC asks, online by credit or debit card at the end of the application.

6. 06

   Submit before your permit expires

   Use your IRCC secure account, even if you applied for your first permit through a different account. Keep your confirmation of submission, which shows the date you applied.

Paper applications are only for people who cannot apply online because of a disability or another barrier that prevents online applying or makes it unreliable (canada.ca, checked 4 October 2026). The application form is IMM 5709, which the online application completes for you; our IRCC forms guide lists the related forms.

How much does it cost to extend a study permit in Canada?

A study permit extension costs $150 per person in IRCC fees, plus $85 per person for biometrics ($170 maximum per family) if IRCC does not already hold your fingerprints, so one student pays $150 or $235 (IRCC fee list, checked 4 October 2026).

You pay online by credit or debit card at the end of the application. IRCC refunds the processing fee if it receives your withdrawal request before processing starts, and it returns the fee with an application it sends back, for example when your school does not verify your letter by the deadline or a required attestation letter is missing. If you file a plain extension after your permit has expired, IRCC does not refund that fee and asks for a second fee for restoration.

How long does a study permit extension take?

IRCC shows 8 weeks for a study permit extension applied for today (processing-times tool, updated 26 September 2026), and its monthly data file lists 60 days (updated 1 October 2026), so plan on about two months.

IRCC says it will process an extension in 60 days if you are changing to a new post-secondary school and tell it so by answering “Yes” to the changing-school question on the online form. IRCC describes its weekly estimate as the time it expects to take if it receives your application today, counted from the day a complete application arrives and including the time to give biometrics. Our processing times page tracks the IRCC figures for every permit type.

Do you need a new provincial attestation letter to extend your study permit?

You do not need a new attestation letter to extend at the same school and level, but you do to change school or level, except for a move to a master's or doctoral program at a public school (canada.ca, checked 4 October 2026).

A provincial attestation letter (PAL), or territorial attestation letter (TAL), is a letter from the province or territory where you study that confirms there is space for you. Your school provides it.

IRCC also exempts a few other groups already in Canada, including protected persons, holders of a temporary resident permit valid for at least six months and some permanent residence applicants. If you rely on an exception and send no letter, you must send proof that you meet it.

A letter must be valid on the day you apply: one issued in 2026 is valid until 31 December 2026 unless it shows an earlier date. Send it with your application, not after, because IRCC usually returns applications that lack a required letter. Our attestation letter guide lists every exemption.

What proof of funds do you need to extend a study permit?

IRCC applies its current financial requirements to extensions and checks that you can keep supporting yourself while you study, so show tuition, living costs and travel costs; living costs start at $23,448 for one person (canada.ca, checked 4 October 2026).

That living-cost figure applies if you apply on or after 1 September 2026, outside Quebec, and excludes tuition and transportation. IRCC's extension guide lists the same three costs and publishes no separate amount for extensions. Our proof of funds guide has the amounts by family size.

• Bank statements: for the past six months, including the month you apply or the month before, showing where the money came from.
• Guaranteed investment certificate: a GIC from a Canadian financial institution.
• Tuition and housing receipts: proof you paid, together with other proof that you can cover living and travel costs.
• Education loan or scholarship: a bank loan letter or scholarship proof; a tuition-only scholarship needs separate proof of living costs.
• Sponsor support: a letter from the person giving you money with their occupation, their relationship to you, their number of dependants and the amount, plus their identification or business registration.

What documents do you need to extend a study permit?

You need your passport, a letter of acceptance or enrolment from your school, transcripts from your last two terms or a registrar's letter, proof of funds, and a new attestation letter if you change school or level (IRCC Guide 5552, checked 4 October 2026).

Can you keep studying and working while IRCC decides?

Yes. If you applied before your permit expired and you stay in Canada, you can keep studying under your current conditions and keep working on or off campus if your permit allows work and you still meet the work rules (canada.ca, checked 4 October 2026).

Maintained status ends on the day IRCC refuses the extension (IRCC program delivery instructions, checked 4 October 2026). IRCC tells students who started a new program while waiting that if the extension is refused, they must stop studying immediately. See our guide to maintained status for the rules that apply to every permit type, and working while studying for the hour limits. Our guide to study permit refusal reasons explains what a refusal letter means.

Check that you meet your permit conditions before you apply. You must stay enrolled at the school named on the permit, actively pursue your studies and keep any authorized leave to 150 days or less. If IRCC finds you have not, it can ask you to leave Canada, and you may have to wait six months before applying for a new study permit, visitor visa or work permit in Canada (canada.ca, checked 4 October 2026).

What if you change schools, programs or levels while extending?

Since 8 November 2024 you cannot change schools on the same permit: a post-secondary student applies to extend before finishing at the current school, adds a new attestation letter in most cases and waits for approval before starting (canada.ca, checked 4 October 2026).

You can start at the new school before IRCC approves the extension only if you meet all three conditions:

• No travel: you have not left Canada since you received your letter of acceptance from the new school.
• Current conditions: you still meet the conditions of your previous study permit.
• School problem: before you finished, your school closed, discontinued your program, was placed on the suspension list or lost its designated status.

If you change schools without telling IRCC, your old school reports you as not enrolled. That breaks your permit conditions and can lead to an invalid or cancelled permit, a request to leave Canada and trouble with future permits.

What happens if your study permit has already expired?

If your permit expired before you applied, you cannot study, but you have 90 days from losing status to apply to restore it, at $396.25 in total with a new attestation letter (canada.ca, checked 4 October 2026).

• Deadline: you must apply within 90 days of the date you lost status; after that you must leave Canada.
• Where: apply from inside Canada and stay in Canada until IRCC decides. Leaving ends the application, and restoration cannot be done at a port of entry.
• How: in your IRCC secure account, apply for the study permit extension, select “Restore my status”, add a note explaining why the permit expired, and pay the restoration fee.
• Fees: $246.25 for restoration plus $150 for the new study permit, $396.25 in total. Each family member who lost status applies separately and pays their own restoration fee.
• Study and work: you cannot study or work until IRCC restores your status and issues the new permit.
• Eligibility: you must still meet the requirements for your stay and not have broken other conditions. Studying without authorization makes you ineligible, and holders of a temporary resident permit cannot restore status.
• Decision time: IRCC's service standard is a final decision within five months of a complete application.

Do not file a plain extension after your permit has expired. IRCC's instructions say an extension received after status ended should be refused, and its guide warns that you will not get the extension fee back and will be asked to pay again for restoration.

If IRCC refuses an extension you filed on time, your status ends on the date of the refusal and the 90 days run from then. If IRCC rejects the application as incomplete, you never had maintained status, so the 90 days start when your original permit expired (IRCC program delivery instructions, checked 4 October 2026).

Should you extend your study permit or apply for a PGWP?

If you have finished an eligible program and want to work, apply for a post-graduation work permit within 180 days of your school confirming you completed it, rather than extending; extend only to keep studying (canada.ca, checked 4 October 2026).

• Deadline: you have up to 180 days after you graduate to apply, and your study permit must have been valid at some point in those 180 days.
• Working while you wait: if you apply for the PGWP before your study permit expires and you were allowed to work off campus, you can work full time until IRCC decides.
• If your permit expired first: you have up to 90 days after it expires to apply for the PGWP and restore your status as a student, and you cannot work until the PGWP is approved.
• Starting a new program: students who could work off campus may work unlimited hours between programs if they hold a valid permit or applied to extend before it expired, have written confirmation that they finished their program and a letter of acceptance to a new full-time program, and start it within 150 days of that confirmation.

Our PGWP guide covers eligibility, and what to do when a PGWP is running out covers the options after it. Study to permanent residence shows how the extension, the PGWP and a PR application fit together.

When is it worth talking to a licensed RCIC about your extension?

Talk to a licensed RCIC if your permit expires within 30 days, you are changing school or level, it has expired, or your funds, enrolment or leave history could raise questions; a same-school extension with time to spare is a job many students do themselves.

• Less than 30 days left: a late filing needs a plan for what you can and cannot do while you wait.
• Changing school or level: the attestation letter, the school-change questions and the rules for starting at the new school all interact.
• Permit already expired: restoration has a 90-day deadline, a $396.25 fee and a no-study rule, so the filing has to be right the first time.
• Gaps in your record: leaves of absence, part-time terms or a period out of status are things IRCC can ask you to prove.
• Planning your next status: the PGWP and permanent residence timeline starts before your extension is decided.

Working under a licensed RCIC (CICC #R706497), our team represents students entirely online, by video call and secure document sharing, and never guarantees an immigration outcome. Prefer to file yourself? Our lower-cost File Review has an RCIC check your extension before you submit.