How to Find a Designated Learning Institution (DLI)

A DLI is a school a provincial or territorial government has approved to host international students.

You need a letter of acceptance from one to apply for a study permit. IRCC's language is blunt: if your acceptance letter is not from a DLI, your application will be refused.

But choosing a DLI is not just a box to tick. Get this step wrong and you can spend two years and forty thousand dollars on a program that leads nowhere.

Which schools are DLIs

All primary and secondary schools in Canada are automatically DLIs. They do not appear on the list, and they do not need to.

Postsecondary schools are different. Each province and territory designates which universities, colleges, CEGEPs, vocational schools, private career colleges and language schools may enrol international students. Only those appear on the IRCC list.

IRCC adds a warning worth repeating: provincial governments do not necessarily regulate private schools. If you are looking at a private institution, confirm it meets provincial education requirements AND that it is on the DLI list.

How to use the official list

IRCC's DLI list now has three tabs, and knowing which one you are on matters more than most people realise.

To find your school:

Pick the tab that matches what you actually need.

Choose your province or territory.

Search by school name or city.

Copy the DLI number into the "Details of intended study in Canada" section of your study permit application.

DLI numbers begin with a capital letter O followed by a string of digits, for example O19273743562. Copy it exactly.

The single most important thing on this page

Being a DLI does NOT mean the school gets you a Post Graduation Work Permit.

IRCC states it directly: "Graduating from a designated learning institution (DLI) doesn't automatically make you eligible for a PGWP."

And it goes further. Not all programs offered by a PGWP eligible DLI are themselves PGWP eligible. The school can be on the list while your specific program is not.

This is why the "DLIs offering PGWP eligible programs" tab exists, and why it has an "Eligible programs" column. Check the school AND the program. Then check that you personally meet the PGWP requirements, because a qualifying program at a qualifying school still will not help you if you miss the language or field of study rules.

If a recruiter tells you otherwise, read the next section carefully.

IRCC's fraud warning, in its own words

IRCC publishes a list of signs that you are being scammed. One of them is this, quoted exactly:

Someone "tells you that all DLIs and programs of study can make you eligible for a post graduation work permit (PGWP)."

That is not our warning. That is the Government of Canada telling you that this specific claim is a hallmark of fraud.

Other signs IRCC lists:

Telling you to apply for a student visa without a letter of acceptance from a DLI. Have the DLI send the letter directly to you.

Promising you a letter of acceptance if you pay them.

Offering a discounted tuition rate for a fee. Always pay tuition directly to the school.

Charging you to apply for a scholarship, or guaranteeing a scholarship.

Telling you that you can stay in Canada much longer than your study permit allows.

Promising you a job or permanent residence.

Asking for documents or payment through social media.

It is also illegal in Canada for anyone not authorised by a governing body to charge fees to help you complete and submit immigration applications. Unauthorised representatives sometimes call themselves visa agents, immigration agents, or visa fixers.

Providing false or misleading information can get your application refused and can ban you from Canada for up to 5 years.

Curriculum licensing, and why it destroys PGWP plans

A curriculum licensing agreement, also called a public private partnership or P3, is where a private career college delivers a program on behalf of a public college.

IRCC: these programs are NOT PGWP eligible in most cases.

The two exceptions are dated, and the dates are unforgiving.

Begin a same province P3 program after 15 May 2024, or a cross province one after 1 February 2023, and you are not eligible for a PGWP. Full stop.

If a school is vague about whether it delivers a program under a licensing agreement, that vagueness is your answer.

If your school loses its designation

It happens, and it is survivable if you act.

IRCC gives you two options if your school is de designated while you are studying there:

Keep studying there until your current study permit expires.

Apply for a new study permit at a different DLI.

What you cannot do is extend your study permit to keep studying at a school that has lost its designation.

If you had deferred your enrolment and the school is de designated before you start, you cannot start studying there at all. If you are in Canada with a valid permit, you find a new DLI, get accepted, and apply for a new study permit. If your permit was approved but not yet issued, IRCC will ask you for a new letter of acceptance from a new DLI.

If your school is suspended or closes

You may attend a DLI on the suspension list ONLY to finish a program you had already started. You cannot start something new there.

If your school closed, discontinued your program, was suspended, or lost its designation before you finished, you may start at a new DLI while your extension application is pending, provided you have not left Canada since receiving the new letter of acceptance and you still meet the conditions of your previous permit.

A permanent school closure also counts as grounds for authorised leave, which is capped at 150 days.

Changing schools

Since the current rules took effect, you cannot simply move DLI on your existing permit.

You must get a NEW study permit, by applying to extend your current one, BEFORE you start at the new school.

Your new school must also be a DLI. Check the list before you commit to anything.

You will need a letter explaining why you are changing schools, and since 22 January 2025, a new valid PAL or TAL unless you are exempt.

There is a 60 day service standard for postsecondary students changing DLI, but only if you answer "Yes" to the question asking whether you are a student in Canada changing your designated learning institution. Miss that question and you lose the fast lane.

Do not just move and say nothing. IRCC spells out what happens: your old school reports you as not enrolled, you are in breach of your study permit conditions, the permit may become invalid or be cancelled, you may be asked to leave Canada, and you may be barred from returning.

If you are outside Canada and your permit has been approved but you change schools, you file a NEW application with a new letter of acceptance, and you pay all the fees again.

One more thing that catches transfers: if you moved from a non DLI to a DLI, only the time at the DLI counts. You need at least 8 months at the DLI to qualify for a PGWP.

Quebec

Quebec schools appear on the same national IRCC list.

But Quebec adds its own document. You need an attestation of issuance of your Quebec Acceptance Certificate, the CAQ, issued by the Government of Quebec. Ask your school how to apply for it. Most students who are exempt from the PAL still need a CAQ, with very few exceptions.

Reusing a CAQ when changing schools is narrowly limited. You can only reapply with the same valid CAQ if it was issued before 6 December 2024 and you are changing schools at the same level of study, or if you are a minor at primary or secondary level and the CAQ is not tied to a specific school.

Changing between vocational training centres in Quebec does not need a new study permit, but does need a new CAQ.

And note the PGWP measure in Quebec is 900 hours, not 8 months.

Before you enrol, ask the school

IRCC does not publish a checklist, so use this one, built from the rules above:

Are you on the DLI list, and what is your DLI number?

Is THIS PROGRAM on the PGWP eligible list, not just the school?

Is this program delivered under a curriculum licensing or public private partnership arrangement?

Will you validate my letter of acceptance with IRCC when asked?

Is the program at least 8 months, or 900 hours in Quebec?

That fourth one matters more than it looks. IRCC now asks schools to validate letters of acceptance, and if your school does not respond by the deadline, IRCC returns your application and refunds your fee. Weeks lost, for something entirely outside your control.

Questions people actually ask

Prepared by KGraph Immigration. Last updated July 2026. General information, not legal advice.