The Government of Canada recently made a number of temporary policy changes to support and reassure international students beginning a new program this fall. This process is available to students starting a program in the fall semester who submit a study permit application before September 15, 2020. This measure will reassure students that they can enrol and begin their studies this fall online, even when they are not able to submit all required documentation due to pandemic-related closures. The changes will give students more certainty about their ability to enter Canada once travel and health restrictions are eased in Canada and their own home countries.
Some of the new measures include:
- providing priority study-permit processing for students who have submitted a complete application online, to ensure that permits are processed as quickly as possible
- providing reassurances to international students who cannot submit all of the documentation needed to complete processing of their applications, and who choose to pursue programs through distance learning, by implementing a temporary 2-stage approval process
In light of this, Toronto School of Management (TSOM) has announced a new refund policy which applies to students with “Approval in Principle Letter” from IRCC. International students will now be allowed to start their studies online while they are waiting for their final study permit to be approved. To be able to start their program, students will need to provide TSOM with their “Approval in Principle Letter” from IRCC.
- The student has received an “Approval in Principle Letter” from IRCC
- The student didn’t complete more than 50% of their program
- The student didn’t put their studies on hold, postpone their program, or cancel their program after it starts, or other reasons not related to visa refusal
- The student submitted a complete study permit application under TSOM’s DLI and paid the required fees
- The student received a visa refusal and informed the school within 48 hours of the refusal date
- Other fees such as textbook fees, application fees, international student fees may not be refunded
Students that do not meet the above requirements will be charged for the modules completed according to TSOM’s regular refund policy.
Ehsan Safdari, Managing Director at TSOM said: “In this uncertain time, this refund policy will provide students with a sense of security and hopefully lessen their worries when it comes to their visa status. We hope to welcome these students to our campus soon.”
