I have shared my life in Canada for some time now. While it seemed like my move to Canada was a speedy journey, would you believe that I started the preparation almost 1 and a half years before I even stepped onto Canadian soil? Granted, I started my preparation too early, but given that I had zero knowledge about coming to Canada for studies, I wanted to give myself more time to learn about the procedures and react to surprises.
Despite starting early, I spent a great deal of time preparing for and taking an English test, obtaining an Education Credential Assessment (ECA), acquiring my Study Permit, as well as purchasing my air ticket. Through my personal experience and insights, I will be elaborating on these time-consuming requirements and share some tips on how to maximise our time preparing for them.
Note: I will be using “universities”, “colleges”, “schools”, “institutions”, “Designated Learning Institutions (DLI) etc. interchangeably. They all refer to post-secondary institutions, since applying for PSIs is what I personally went through and know most about.
English Tests Required for School Admission
The first item to check off the list will be a recognised English test result. TOEFL or IELTS are 2 of the most popular tests for this purposes. Depending on the schools, ELA (English Language Assessment), CAEL (Canadian Academic English Language Assessment Test), PTE Academic (Pearson Test of English – Academic) are some of the tests that can be recognised.
This is on the top of my list because I think it also holds a lot of uncertainty. Despite being a native English speaker, I still felt jittery and uncertain throughout the preparation for and up till my IELTS test. When I found out about this requirement and registered for it, I had the choice of taking the test in 1 month or 3 months. I chose the former, as I wanted to save time; should I fail that test, the next one would just be 2 months away. However, I ended up with a lot of stress, as I had only less than 4 weeks to prepare for a test I had never attempted before!
Another reason why I thought this should be of high priority is that a majority of universities and colleges require an English test for all international students (regardless of whether you went through a 12-year education system that was based in English).
Tip: Check out the requirements for English proficiency on the school’s official website. At the same time, check out this link to find out what IELTS is for and who accepts IELTS score: https://www.ielts.org/about-the-test/who-accepts-ielts-scores. Last, but not least, check out my previous post to have an idea of how to find a school to study in Canada in 3 simple steps.
Educational Credential Assessment (ECA)
The next thing to be aware of and look out for is Educational Credential Assessment (ECA). Again, this is something that not all universities and colleges require, but if they do, this takes up a great deal of time too.
According to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), “an ECA is used to verify that your foreign degree, diploma, or certificate (or other proof of your credential) is valid and equal to a Canadian one.” Additionally, they stressed that “there are different types of ECAs.” Therefore, other than making sure that the university you are intending to register for requires one, you need to understand what type of ECA they require (the fees differ for different ECAs too).
Schools that require ECAs usually need the highest qualification to be verified. E.g. if your highest qualification thus far is a Diploma, then that will be the one that require ECA. Similarly, a Masters Degree holder only needs only to verify that Masters degree certificate, and not the Bachelors or Diploma. The only exception is if your certificate is issued in a language other than English – those certificates will need to be verified.
Note: Only institutions recognised by IRCC are allowed to assess overseas qualifications and issue ECAs. Beware of scams or intermediaries/agents that overcharge you for doing something you can do online and by yourself!
With so much to understand and clarify, on top of the time to obtain it, getting an ECA is another big item to clear from the checklist. Put it simply,
- Find out whether your school requires an ECA
- If yes, what type of ECA they want, and
- Be clear how long it is going to take to obtain that particular ECA.
Tip: Some schools totally don’t require an ECAs; they may only want you to submit a softcopy of your certificates/transcripts (mostly for secondary school records), and sight the original copy before school starts. Similarly, some require course-by-course assessment (referred to as Comprehensive Assessments by the institutions that provide ECAs).
As I’ve always stressed, it’s best practice to check the official websites for the most accurate and most up-to-date information. For example, you can find out more about the steps to getting an ECA, eligibility and how to get it on the IRCC official website: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/immigrate-canada/express-entry/documents/education-assessed.html
Study Permit
Getting a Study Permit actually happens after the registration process, when the Letter of Acceptance (LoA) is sent by the school. Yet obtaining the most important document (without it, you can only dream about coming to Canada to study) is the most tedious procedure.
Every transaction is carried out on IRCC’s online portal – from application, to receiving notifications and receiving the Letter of Approval. Mind you, filling out the forms was a mind-sapping process (or perhaps I just hate filling out forms). After 13 weeks, a letter of notice (NOTE: this is not the final approval) is sent, via IRCC online portal, for the candidate to proceed for medical examination. Only after clearing the medical examination will a Letter of Approval (NOTE: this is not the study permit) will be issued, also via the IRCC portal. With this letter, one can then proceed to the immigration office upon arrival in Canada, to apply for a Study Permit.
As you can see, the actual procedure of obtaining a Study Permit ends only when you receive the hardcopy certificate after you arrive in Canada. For simplicity sake, I’ve put the “end time” as when the Letter of Approval is issued after clearing the medical examination.
And speaking of medical examination, this is the trickiest part. On one hand, it’s impossible to reduce the waiting time of 13 weeks between submission of study permit application to receiving of Letter of Approval. On the other hand, if you mess up on the medical examination, you can potentially lengthen the time to get that coveted Letter of Approval. Depending on the appointment waiting time and processing of results, it can take months for the medical examination to be cleared!
For Singaporeans like me, based on my experience and advice available online, there will not be “interviews” between submission of application to notification of medical examination, so it should be safe booking the medical appointment in advance.
Even if there is an interview, as I mentioned, the outcome should still be ready by 13 weeks, given how Canadians keep to the timing rather well.
Air Ticket
Well, I added this partly because I get excited about buying air tickets, especially for an epic trip like this! To justify having this as one of the items to “look out for”, let’s just say, if you are unable to get an air ticket, you are basically not going to finalise the process to come to Canada for studies!
Technically, though, the existing rules and regulations (from airlines and from Canada’s government) make a simple act of buying an air ticket a tricky and confusing one.
The “conventional wisdom” is for one to buy a ticket half a year before the slated departure date, in order to get the cheapest ticket – which we can’t, due to 2 reasons: the School Enrollment / Study Permit procedures may not have been finalised by then (even for someone like me who started the whole procedure way before the average person does, I only settled everything 4 months before departure date).
Secondly, we can’t buy tickets more than one year in advance – this becomes a headache for buying of the return ticket. Even if we buy the ticket to and back from Canada as separate, one-way tickets, we can only buy the return ticket very close to the departure date. At the same time, having a return ticket is one of the requirements by the Canadian immigration to issue the Study Permit, so the return ticket MUST be bought before flying off to Canada.
For me, the situation got a little bit trickier as I wanted to buy my ticket to Canada using air miles – usually it’s impossible to redeem a seat less than 6 months to departure. It was what happened to me. By the time my Study Permit was settled, I was barely 3 months from departure! I ended up being placed on wait list and had to have a plan B, where I purchased a ticket to Vancouver instead.
My little disaster aside, I searched for one-way tickets on different airlines – i.e. Even though I was buying one-way tickets to and from Canada, I also planned to take different airlines. It turned out that buying tickets via different airlines can be cheaper than buying a return ticket on the same airline! (Provided you search hard enough)
The search process was tedious, since airlines also change ticket prices every now and then, so I made a spreadsheet to keep track of the prices as I scoured through airlines’ websites over a few weeks.
Side Track: During one of the conversations with RS, I found out that he was having a lot of issues with his flight back home (on top of the ones he had before he arrived). After probing, I found the source of his headache: buying air tickets through an agent. As a seasoned traveller, my advice to everyone is to avoid buying air tickets through an agent! You might encounter issues like RS, where he agreed to purchase air tickets to fly via Lufthansa, but ended up being issued a ticket on Eurowings (and he had no way to refute that, due to “Terms and Conditions”). He was also given the ticket confirmation only days before departure!
He told me that buying direct from airlines is more expensive – this is a common understanding. However, i. it is still possible to get cheaper tickets direct from the airlines. ii. By paying more, you do away with the uncertainty that comes with buying tickets through an agent. iii. The price difference isn’t really arm-breaking – what’s arm breaking is when you fail to board the plane and have to sacrifice all the payments you made for the trip. Worse still, your whole study plan might be scrapped and you have to re-do everything!
I think the best reason for buying direct from airlines is that there is assurance that the airline will help you settle all the hiccups that occur due to the airline’s fault (I can’t say for budget airlines, though). However, when you buy through an agent, there will be plenty of responsibility-pushing. Buying cheap via an agent is OK if you are going on a short holiday – but definitely not OK for turning up in Canada in time to apply for a string of things like study permits, Social Insurance Number, Medical Services Plan, completing school enrollment… etc!
How Do We Save Time (and Headache) on These Big Items?
I think one of the common factors among these items was that we can’t change the time the other party takes to process our applications. For example, the application for Study Permit was a one-way communication process; there was no way to find out the status my application, so all I could do was to have complete trust that at the end of the 13-week wait, I would receive a (hopefully) positive reply regarding my Study Permit application.
Find Out About the Requirements for English Tests and ECA
This should be the first you have to tick off the list. If your school does not require either (or both), you will instantaneously save on a lot of time and trouble preparing for them!
Settle English Tests and ECA Simultaneously
One challenge I encountered throughout my application process was that there was no one-stop resource on what to prepare and when to prepare for what (which is the reason why I made this post). Most of the time, it was only after I completed one item, before I knew I also had to fulfill another requirement.
For example, it was only after clearing my IELTS, that I found out about the requirement for ECA.
Had I known about these earlier, I would have started preparing for both at the same time. An ECA takes between a month to 3 months before the results are finalised. I could have prepared for and take my IELTS at the same time while waiting for my ECA results – had I known earlier!
Fill Out Forms In Advance
Unfortunately, if schools require ECA and/or English tests, then the process for enrollment into the school cannot be done simultaneously with the ECA and English test. Similarly, we have to upload the Letter of Acceptance from the school into IRCC’s portal, before we can even submit the Study Permit application. However, it is possible to enter IRCC’s portal to fill up the forms in advance; there is no expiration to the draft saved for Study Permit application. In fact, I wasn’t able to finish filling up the forms in one seating (I really hate to fill out forms!), so doing it in advance can actually help save some time!
Pre-book Medical Appointment
Like I mentioned earlier, you can take a chance by booking for your medical appointment in advance. As a gauge, I received my notification on the 9th week after my submission. Although the clinic was “busy”, I was pushy and managed to secure an appointment just 2 weeks after I was notified. For my shamelessness, I got my Study Permit in Week 12!
I’m not sure if the IRCC changes the appointed clinics on a regular basis. However, if you are interested, please feel free to email / PM me to find out about the address and contact of the clinic appointed in Singapore.
Be Realistic, Pace Yourself and Plan in Advance
As a gauge, if you do not have a good foundation in English, perhaps you would want to set aside 1 year to prepare for your English test, and at least take 2 tests during that period.
If you are from Singapore and passed “O”-Levels English, then perhaps you can spend 3 – 6 months on the test (depending on whether you are just aiming for a pass or trying to score the test to improve your chances of getting enrolled into the school of your choice).
The idea is to be clear of how much time you need and make ample plans in advance. If you need a year to prepare for the English test, and university registration closes half a year before school starts, you will have to start preparing for the English test at least 1.5 years before your planned start of school.
From there, schedule for the other time-consuming items like getting ECA verified and set a reminder on the calendar. Being methodical and well-prepared is also one of the qualities of a college student!
Conclusion
Preparing for enrollment into a university or college can be a tedious process. Not only is the Canadian education system different from the East Asian systems we’re familiar with, the criteria and requirements vary across the country and types of institutions.
However, being clear of the 4 main time-guzzling hurdles: English test, Education Credential Assessment (ECA), Study Permit and air tickets – and checking them off systematically will help reduce the surprises and last-minute scrambling that I faced during my experience!
Till then, sing while you can!
Disclaimer: Some schools were mentioned for illustration purposes, it does not mean Sing in Can endorses those schools or have affiliations to them. Sing in Can also does not engage in the service of offering immigration advice. Some photos were taken with permission from Pixabay.com.
