Canadian institutions with COVID-19 preparedness plan are open for international students

The federal government has announced that some Canadian Designated Learning institutions can start the intake of new international students. DLIs are Canadian universities, schools, and other academic institutions that have the authorization to welcome international students. International students with valid study permits will now be able to come to Canada if their educational institution has a readiness plan to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Prior to this, only those international students were allowed to enter Canada who had a study permit approved on or before 18th March 2020.

You must be eligible to enter Canada as an international student by meeting the following requirements:

Students must have a genuine study permit or a letter of introduction showing the proof of your study permit approval
International students must be enrolled at a DLI that has a definite COVID-19 preparedness plan.

You can enter Canada only when you are traveling for essential reasons. So, as an international student, you must have all the supporting documents for your travel and your academic institution must be on the approved list. You can’t travel to Canada as a student if your study program has been suspended or if you are traveling for any other reason. All international students will have to quarantine for 2 weeks after coming to Canada. The government has issued guidelines to DLIs to ensure that they have a well-approved plan to combat the spread of COVID-19. The coronavirus readiness plan should include details about how the DLIs will handle the quarantine period and how they will send students to the quarantine location. They have to provide all the information to international students regarding quarantine rules and regulations. Also, they must support students and provide them essentials such as medicine, food, and health insurance. International students can communicate with their institution regarding questions about the coronavirus level of preparation. IRCC has stated that students who are not enrolled at an approved DLI won’t be able to enter Canada. However, in the coming times, IRCC will increase the number of approved DLIs. Students can check at the IRCC website whether their learning institution is approved or not. Students who are not admitted to an approved DLI will be prevented from boarding their flight to Canada.

Approved post-secondary schools

In Quebec, mostly all post-secondary schools are approved and open to welcome international students with proper COVID-19 readiness plan. There are 39 post-secondary schools that are approved in British Columbia and Alberta, 10 in Manitoba, 14 in Ontario, 13 in New Brunswick, 5 in Prince Edward Island, 3 in Newfoundland and Labrador, 7 in Saskatchewan, and 1 in the Yukon.