+1(514) 937-9445 or Toll-free (Canada & US) +1 (888) 947-9445

IRCC: Studying More Than 50% Online Due to COVID Won't Fetch points for Express Entry

protonblast

Full Member
Nov 8, 2020
30
1
for PGWP - you can study online till april 21.
for points - you need to complete atleast 50% your course in Canada.

for points - you need to complete atleast 50% your course in Canada..... it is possible that even you study 100% of your courses that have been in person but professors have no choice but to conduct them online you are still not eligible because the government has not relief the restriction of distance education officially
 

primaprime

VIP Member
Apr 6, 2019
3,390
883
The question remains if studying online while in Canada, for a course that is normally not online and has only been moved online due to COVID, will be accepted as Canadian education. I would hope IRCC decides the answer is yes. It might depend on how the school treats it on the completion letter.
 

protonblast

Full Member
Nov 8, 2020
30
1
The question remains if studying online while in Canada, for a course that is normally not online and has only been moved online due to COVID, will be accepted as Canadian education. I would hope IRCC decides the answer is yes. It might depend on how the school treats it on the completion letter.
It is hard to quantify it right?
So I think the rule itself will is hard to change because they may include those "real" distance learning courses which they don't want to. PGWP is a small thing which clearly the government let it go, but the CRS credential is huge!

I don't neither of following cases will be true
1. they release the constraint of online courses (which is against their originally purpose) or
2. given they still want immigrants (unlike USA) and they do not want riots, they probably will not disqualified those previously qualified programs.

So I think the approach they are going to take is:
They won't send people to the school to check every single program's delivery format, and they won't ask school chancellors for it.

They will use study permit/presence in canada/letter of support for essential travel from school/transcript/previous similar programs in the database/reputation of the school to make a decision.

Hope for the best.
 

Kingaos

Hero Member
Oct 29, 2019
275
47
for points - you need to complete atleast 50% your course in Canada..... it is possible that even you study 100% of your courses that have been in person but professors have no choice but to conduct them online you are still not eligible because the government has not relief the restriction of distance education officially
So what will happen to those students who received their study permit late for May intake for a one year program. When the borders opened in Oct to international students more than 50% of their program was completed online. So you're telling me they won't receive csr points???
Does that make any sense to you?
 

protonblast

Full Member
Nov 8, 2020
30
1
So what will happen to those students who received their study permit late for May intake for a one year program. When the borders opened in Oct to international students more than 50% of their program was completed online. So you're telling me they won't receive csr points???
Does that make any sense to you?
i'm saying it is a possibility even though the possibility is slim. moreover if your school do not list those courses as online courses on your transcript and do not publicly announce that your program is online then you should be fine. Also, there is a big difference between some typical online courses of which you take on udemy asynchronously versus those web-oriented courses your professors conducting synchronously.
 

protonblast

Full Member
Nov 8, 2020
30
1
So what will happen to those students who received their study permit late for May intake for a one year program. When the borders opened in Oct to international students more than 50% of their program was completed online. So you're telling me they won't receive csr points???
Does that make any sense to you?
So what will happen to those students who received their study permit late for May intake for a one year program. When the borders opened in Oct to international students more than 50% of their program was completed online. So you're telling me they won't receive csr points???
Does that make any sense to you?



Distance learning can be through e-learning, correspondence, or internet courses. Distance learning is a process by which technology is used in ways where the student does not have to physically be in the place where the teaching is taking place.

Since by definition distance learning does not require one to be in Canada, a study permit cannot be issued for this type of course. For example, if a foreign national authorized to work in Canada is prohibited from engaging in studies as per a condition of their work permit, they are allowed to engage in distance learning courses.
However, some distance learning courses include an in-Canada portion to the program (e.g., special tutorials or the writing of final exams). If the overall course of study is greater than six months, then the student requires a study permit for the in-Canada portion of the program, even if the in-Canada portion is less than six months. The duration of the study permit should be for the duration of the in-Canada portion only.

So first of all. For the distance education program you cannot be issued a visa at the first place. By this definition if you have a study permit and maintain your student visa status in Canada, your program is not the distance learning program.

Also the definition says Distance learning is a process by which technology is used in ways where the student does not have to physically be in the place where the teaching is taking place. By this definition we can claim that those web-oriented courses your professors conducting synchronously are not distance learning because you still have to be physically be in the place where the teaching is taking place (in terms of time).
 

shazza90

Member
Nov 29, 2020
16
2
Sydney
Category........
STUDY
The question remains if studying online while in Canada, for a course that is normally not online and has only been moved online due to COVID, will be accepted as Canadian education. I would hope IRCC decides the answer is yes. It might depend on how the school treats it on the completion letter.
Hi Primaprime,

I am afraid not, even if a student is in Canada and they are doing the class online due to Covid 19 restrictions.

This is very sad for students who are doing a 1 year PG diploma or 1 year Masters. They are not entitled to any extra CRS points :(
 

scillia

Star Member
Apr 27, 2021
82
3
Hi Primaprime,

I am afraid not, even if a student is in Canada and they are doing the class online due to Covid 19 restrictions.

This is very sad for students who are doing a 1 year PG diploma or 1 year Masters. They are not entitled to any extra CRS points :(
WHAT!

This can't be real. How can they verify that our classes were online and not in person? Our offer letters show on campus mode.

Will this be a problem for Fall 2021 intake students? 16 month course
 

shazza90

Member
Nov 29, 2020
16
2
Sydney
Category........
STUDY
WHAT!

This can't be real. How can they verify that our classes were online and not in person? Our offer letters show on campus mode.

Will this be a problem for Fall 2021 intake students? 16 month course
Hey mate, this is my personal understanding of the whole matter. Basically doing a course online will not affect a student's PGWP, however, if a student has done more than 50% of their course online then this will be considered as distance learning, irregardless of the situation caused by Covid 19

I honestly can't say, suppose you have done the fall 2021 and winter 2022 classes online inside Canada then that according to their rules you cannot claim any points for Canadian education experience.
 

corporatewokerlady

Full Member
Mar 8, 2021
25
0
With respect to COVID, I've generally thought that people shouldn't assume IRCC will create exemptions until they are officially announced, not least because Canada is a rule-of-law country where the government must go through a legal process to change many things. In this case, the rules governing CRS scores are largely set out in Ministerial Instructions drawn up by IRCC and formally promulgated by Minister Mendicino.

Here we find:


So keep in mind the IRCC Twitter account is, at the moment, simply referring to the fact that the Ministerial Instructions currently in force require physical presence in Canada in order for an applicant to earn points for Canadian education. This doesn't necessarily mean IRCC staff aren't discussing the issue internally, and considering the other measures they have implemented I don't think it's unreasonable to hope that they might officially adjust this. But at the same time, they are under no obligation to do so. For now, it looks like my question from last weekend has been answered.
According to your explanation. In my case I block transferred 76 credits from my previous degree earned through on-campus / a Canadian university to TRU-OL to do get a second degree so this distance learning BBA that consists 122 credits is nullified and get me 0 points in EE education ( Canadian credits) ?
 

euphoria123

Full Member
Oct 14, 2019
22
1
Hi Primaprime,

I am afraid not, even if a student is in Canada and they are doing the class online due to Covid 19 restrictions.

This is very sad for students who are doing a 1 year PG diploma or 1 year Masters. They are not entitled to any extra CRS points :(
No, no. That’s not how it works. It is a matter of you being physically inside Canada ON A STUDY PERMIT. You can be on a visitor visa in Canada and still study online (distance learning program that doesn’t require a study permit), in that case it will not count as Canadian education.
 

niyayesh

Newbie
Jun 2, 2022
6
0
Hello Guys
I have an urgent question,
I came to Canada in the Fall of 2019 to study 2 years course, In March 2020 Because of Covid they presented the classes online. So almost half of the course was online. But during these 2 years, I studied in side Canada. should I answer this question yes or No?