Dear Sir, 

As you know, Canada has been the world's leading destination for international students for the last few years. After pursuing quality education, the tremendous opportunity provided by the Government of Canada to have work experience through the Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) is an excellent prospect for many students. After that, students can claim the points for Canadian Education which leads to the pathway of permanent residency through Express Entry, other federal programs such as the Atlantic Immigration Pilot, and the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP). 

During the difficult period of COVID, the Honourable Marco E. L. Mendicino, Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, on 26 August 2020, announced that those international students who pursue Canadian Education online due to COVID between spring 2020 and December 2021 would be eligible for the PGWP. It gave hope to all the students affected by the change in the teaching method. Upon the announcement, students across various countries, who would have otherwise withdrawn from their studies due to the change in the format, started pursuing their courses online from home countries. It was also a relief to the students already in Canada, whose mode of education was shifted online. Delay in the processing of their study permit applications, travel restrictions that prevailed in multiple countries during that period, followed by the second wave of COVID, meant that international students could not travel to Canada. At the same time, other students preferred staying back home and completed their diplomas/degrees online. These difficulties did not deter students who believed there would be no obstructions to their studies and future plans. 

However, in recent times, there has been a lot of ambiguity regarding the claiming points for Canadian education completed online due to COVID while applying for permanent residency, which otherwise would have been full-time physical studies. Most students currently inside/outside of Canada have completed or are in the process of completing their programs online. Soon, they will be applying for one of the pathway programs leading to Permanent residency in Canada. There is no clear official guideline regarding points for Canadian education that can be claimed while making applications for their permanent residence in Canada. IRCC, via Twitter, states that students will not be able to claim the points for Canadian Education if they were not physically present in Canada for their studies for eight months or have not completed a 50% course while remaining in Canada. This has caused tremendous stress to students who could not come to Canada either because of delays in processing their visas or a ban on the travel on certain countries due to COVID. The mode of education was shifted online only due to the pandemic as restrictions were imposed during COVID, resulting in the teaching format to online mode. 

Further, no monetary relief was provided by universities, and all international students paid the same tuition fees as they would have done while physically attending classes on campus in Canada. Despite knowing that due to COVID, they could not enter Canada on time and attend the Universities physically. Also, universities/colleges assured students that there would be no change in learning and teaching patterns even though the learning mode was shifted virtually due to an existing COVID situation, and students would have the same learning experience and class teaching as they would have on-campus.

Without clear official guidelines to claim points of Canadian education, this ambiguity is causing innumerable hardships and unnecessary complications for many international students living in Canada and others who are likely to travel once the travel restrictions are lifted. 

Hence, we kindly request to announce official guidelines or transition provisions so that international students can claim the points for Canadian Education while making their permanent residency application for education obtained online from spring 2020 to December 2021 due to the pandemic and relaxing the restrictions of 8 months of stay in Canada as well as at least 50% of completion of their courses which have been placed on students who unfortunately could not come to Canada physically due to the pandemic and complete their education.  

Thanking you, 

Vishal Parekh/Sumeeta Chaudhari