The British Columbia (B.C.) government is now giving out Provincial Attestation Letters (PALs) directly to qualifying postsecondary institutions for new international students.
These students need PALs to apply for a study permit to study in B.C. This PAL process in B.C. started on March 4, 2024.
Back on January 22, 2024, the Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said new students need to include a PAL with their study permit application, with some exceptions.
Reports are coming that Alberta is also giving PALs to international students now.
One good thing about this PAL system is that schools are getting the PAL for international students.
If you want to study in British Columbia or Alberta, you can ask your school about PALs.
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What is a Provincial Attestation Letter?
The Provincial Attestation Letter is a confirmation sent by the province to the institution, and then forwarded to the international applicant.
This letter proves that the application is within the maximum limit set by the federal government.
Applicants need to include the attestation letter when applying for their study permit.
If an institution has used up its allocation, they can’t submit more applications until the federal government allocates more for the next year.
Due to the recent cap on international students by the Canadian government, provinces will have a limited number of attestation letters they can issue.
How many PALs will B.C. issue in 2024?
British Columbia can give out 83,000 PALs for undergraduate study permit applicants.
In 2023, there were about 97,000 study permit applications for undergrad programs.
Based on recent acceptance rates, the government thinks about 50,000 study permit applications will get approved in 2024.
This is down from about 60,000 accepted study permits for British Columbia in 2023.
The province of B.C. says that 53% of permits for post-secondary education will go to public schools, and the remaining 47% will go to private schools. This means there will be 27% fewer permits for private schools compared to last year. B.C. is doing this to slow down the growth of private institutions, which they see as “unsustainable growth”.
B.C.’s permit system is the first to come out since IRCC set a cap on the number of study permits for 2024. Other provinces are expected to do the same soon to meet the deadline of March 31.
Who needs a Provincial Attestation Letter?
Most students applying to non-degree graduate programs, like certificate programs and diplomas, need one.
Exceptions are:
- Primary and secondary school students
- Master’s or doctoral degree students
- Students already in Canada with a valid study permit
- People with in-Canada work permits and their family in Canada
- Students in Canada applying for an extension
- Students who applied before 8:30 a.m. (Eastern time) on Jan. 22, 2024
You can check out a full list of 1-year Master’s programs in Canada offering 3-year post-graduation work permits that you can apply for without a PAL.
Do you need to apply for a PAL as a study permit applicant?
Nope, right now, B.C. and Alberta schools will handle getting a PAL for you when they send you your offer letter.
Unsustainable Growth of International Students
The cap on international students was put in place because Immigration Minister Marc Miller said Canada’s international student program was growing too fast and becoming unsustainable.
There were more than one million active study permits in Canada in 2023, but there weren’t enough affordable places for them to live. Many international students were living in bad conditions or even homeless.
Miller said some schools were just handing out diplomas without giving students a real education. And in some provinces, international students weren’t getting enough help, even though they were paying a lot more for tuition. The cap is meant to stop these bad practices by cutting off the money supply for schools that aren’t doing right by their students.
