Being part-time in summer and PGWP

[Sergey18]

Hello,

I am currently a student at York University, Toronto. So far, I've always been full-time. This summer, however, there is only 1 course available, which is relevant to my program. As far as I understand, it is a common opinion on this forum that you should always stay full-time in order to get PGWP.

I called CIC 3 (three!) times and got different answers to my problem every time. Every time the operators were unable to answer my question immediately and kept me waiting for like 10 minutes. ;D
1) The first guy told me they look for 3 years of full-time study in total (I always thought is was 2 years for a 3-year PGWP). That will be 6 full-time semesters. If I take anything part-time in between - they don't care.
2) The second operator told me I can be part-time any time I want and, for the purpose of PGWP, they just look how long your program is. Say, if it is 3 years, you get a 3-year PGWP. She said that if I want to study for 7 years they are fine with it.
3) The last one said I CANNOT be part time in Fall/Winter, but Summer is PROBABLY an exception from the rule, if it is a "scheduled break" time at my uni. Well, I called the registrars's office at York, and they don't know what a "scheduled break" is.

I suppose, none of the answers I received from CIC are quite correct. The first 2 directly contradict what's on cic.gc.ca.
What do you people think?

 

[Regina]

I think the third one was right. Scheduled break is summer and one week in Fall and Spring. A year of study means usually September 1 to April 30. So I think it does not matter if you take or you do not take courses in Summer as long as you are not missing usual semester in Fall or Winter.

I know that if there was a credit transfer from previous education at home country towards diploma/degree in Canada but the Canadian program itself is a 2 year-diploma, the PGWP will be for 3 years. So I think you can take this one class and continue in Fall as usual and it will not harm your PGWP in future. As I understand CIC looks an the OFFICIAL length of study (as is in your Letter of Acceptance)and not at factual one as long as you are still in the length of your SP boundaries..

 

[txboyscout]

Hello,

I am currently a student at York University, Toronto. So far, I've always been full-time. This summer, however, there is only 1 course available, which is relevant to my program. As far as I understand, it is a common opinion on this forum that you should always stay full-time in order to get PGWP.

I called CIC 3 (three!) times and got different answers to my problem every time. Every time the operators were unable to answer my question immediately and kept me waiting for like 10 minutes. ;D
1) The first guy told me they look for 3 years of full-time study in total (I always thought is was 2 years for a 3-year PGWP). That will be 6 full-time semesters. If I take anything part-time in between - they don't care.
2) The second operator told me I can be part-time any time I want and, for the purpose of PGWP, they just look how long your program is. Say, if it is 3 years, you get a 3-year PGWP. She said that if I want to study for 7 years they are fine with it.
3) The last one said I CANNOT be part time in Fall/Winter, but Summer is PROBABLY an exception from the rule, if it is a "scheduled break" time at my uni. Well, I called the registrars's office at York, and they don't know what a "scheduled break" is.

I suppose, none of the answers I received from CIC are quite correct. The first 2 directly contradict what's on cic.gc.ca.
What do you people think?

As far as CIC goes, they consider the summer a scheduled break and you can work full time in the summer without having to enroll for any courses. The requirement is full time enrollment in the Fall (Sep-Dec) and Winter (Jan-April) semesters