The Government of Canada has recently announced changes concerning study permit applications under the Student Direct Stream (SDS).
Broadly, most required papers in order to be eligible for study permit applications remain unchanged, barring the submission of the Police Clearance Certificate from August 2023. Until now, students applying for study permits were exempted from submitting the Police Clearance Certificate, but it is no longer the case from August this year.
Additionally, they have allowed other third-party English tests for students to meet the English proficiency language requirement. The new entrants in this category are TOEFL iBT, Pearson Test of English Academic (PTE), and Canadian Academic English Language (CAEL).
Students must meet a minimum score equivalent to a Canadian Language Benchmarks (CLB) score of at least 7 for each module, namely Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking. Let us see the comparison of the score requirement:
- IELTS: Minimum 6.0 band score
- TOEFL iBT: Minimum 83
- PTE Academic: Minimum 60
- CAEL: Minimum 60