Can Pakistani Students Take a Break on a Canada Study Permit? Conditions and the 150-Day Leave Rule (2026)

What conditions come with a Canada study permit?

A study permit is not just a ticket to enter Canada. It is a permission with rules attached, and those rules apply every day you hold it. Under section 220.1 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Regulations, a study permit holder must enroll at the designated learning institution named in the permit, remain enrolled there until they complete their studies, and actively pursue their course or program of study. Those few lines are the legal core, and everything else in this guide is explanation of how they work in real life.

The IRCC page on study permit conditions turns the regulation into a checklist. As a permit holder you must be enrolled at a designated learning institution unless you are exempt, show you are actively pursuing your studies, and make progress towards completing your program's courses. The same page tells you to apply to extend your permit if you change post-secondary schools, to end your studies if you no longer meet the requirements of being a student, and to leave Canada when your permit expires.

Read that list twice. Most Pakistani students think about the permit at two moments only: when they apply and when they land. The conditions are the part in between, where students actually get into trouble.

Who checks that you follow the conditions?

Immigration officers can ask. The regulation allows an officer to request evidence of your compliance if the officer has reason to believe you are not complying, and it also allows compliance to be assessed as part of a random check. You will not usually hear anything for years, and then one day an application, an extension or a border interaction triggers a question. Keep your records as though a question will come, because one day it may.

What does "actively pursuing your studies" mean?

IRCC explains it in practical terms. The conditions page describes showing that you are actively pursuing your studies by being enrolled full-time or part-time during each academic semester, excluding regularly scheduled breaks. In other words, the test is not "are you physically in class today". It is "are you registered and studying in each semester your program runs".

Making progress is part of it. A student who stays registered but never completes courses, fails repeatedly without support, or simply stops attending is not behaving like someone pursuing a program. A school that notices will not necessarily tell you first. Your best protection is steady progress and early conversation with your academic advisor when things go wrong.

Full-time or part-time?

The IRCC wording allows for both, but your work rights, your scholarship rules and your future permit eligibility often depend on being full-time. For example, rules on working off campus and on the post-graduation work permit depend on the type of program and your study load, so a decision to drop to part-time can have effects well beyond this one condition. Before you reduce your load, read our guides on working part-time while studying in Canada and on the post-graduation work permit.

Are scheduled breaks a problem?

No. Regularly scheduled breaks are part of your academic calendar and are excluded from the "each academic semester" test. The IRCC study permit conditions page gives no number of days for regularly scheduled breaks; it only excludes them when it describes being enrolled during each academic semester. So we will not invent a figure for you. If your school's calendar shows a summer break between terms, or a winter break at the end of December, you are not on a leave, and you do not need to ask anyone's permission.

The trouble starts when a break stops being scheduled. Skipping a semester that your program expects you to attend, delaying a term because you want to travel, or taking a gap year between two years of a diploma is not a scheduled break. It may need to qualify as an authorized leave, or it may simply put you out of compliance.

What about co-op and internship terms?

Work terms that are part of your program are different from time away from your program, but the rules on co-op work permits are specific. If your program includes a co-op placement, confirm with your school that it is approved as part of your program and that your permit and work authorization cover it. Our guide to the DLI and school transfer process covers the school-side steps if you are moving between institutions.

What is an authorized leave, and when can you take one?

As of 30 October 2026, the IRCC study permit conditions page says you may take authorized leaves, but not longer than 150 days from your study program. IRCC describes a few cases where you may be able to take such a leave and still be considered to be actively pursuing your studies. The cases it lists are:

• medical reasons or pregnancy;
• a family emergency;
• the death or serious illness of a family member;
• any other type of leave your school authorizes;
• the school closing permanently, or closing because of a strike;
• changing schools;
• a deferred start.

IRCC says you do not need to tell it that you are taking an authorized leave. However, if IRCC asks, you must provide proof that the leave was authorized by your designated learning institution and is no longer than 150 days. That sentence is the whole system. Authorization comes from your school, in writing, and the 150-day ceiling comes from IRCC.

How do you get a leave authorized in practice?

1. Speak to your international student office first. Explain the reason honestly and ask what documentation they need.
2. Ask for the approval in writing. It should name you, your student number, the dates of the leave and the reason.
3. Keep the leave under the limit. If your plans could run beyond 150 days, ask your school and a licensed adviser before you start, not after.
4. Collect supporting evidence. A medical letter, a hospital record or a death certificate may be needed by your school, and you should keep copies.
5. Record your return. Keep your re-registration confirmation so the timeline is documented end to end.

What if the reason is not on the list?

The list includes "any other type of leave your school authorizes", which is wide, but it still depends on your school authorizing it and on the leave staying within the 150-day maximum. A personal wish to travel or to earn money in Pakistan for a semester is a hard case to describe as authorized. Ask your school what it will approve, and do not assume that a verbal yes is enough.

Can you work during a leave?

No. IRCC says you cannot work on or off campus during an authorized leave from your study program, even if your study permit says you are allowed to work in Canada. This surprises many students, because they assume a break from classes means more time for a job. A leave removes the study that your work rights rest on.

Plan the money side before you request a leave. If rent and food still need paying, the leave must be affordable without wages from a Canadian employer.

What happens if you break the conditions?

The IRCC study permit conditions page says that if you do not meet your conditions you may lose your student status and study permit, and you might have to wait 6 months before you can apply for a new study permit, a visitor visa or a work permit in Canada. That is a serious consequence for a gap you meant as a short pause.

The same page adds that the outcome of future applications can be affected if you do not follow your study permit conditions, or if you work or study in a way IRCC has not authorized. A weak compliance record can follow you into a PGWP application, a work permit, a visitor visa or an application for permanent residence.

Is there a way back if status is lost?

Sometimes. If your status has already lapsed, there is a process to ask IRCC to restore it, and it has strict timing. We explain it in our guide to restoring student status after a study permit expires. Read it before you do anything, because the wrong move can make the position worse.

What about changing schools or programs?

The IRCC page for students already in Canada says that before you change your school you must meet all the conditions of your study permit, that you must be enrolled at a designated learning institution and actively studying at it, and that at the post-secondary level you need to follow IRCC's instructions for changing schools. The conditions page also tells you to apply to extend your permit if you change post-secondary schools.

Two practical points follow. First, do not leave one school before the new one is confirmed, because a gap in enrolment is the very situation the conditions are worried about. Second, a deliberate move between schools is listed among the cases that can qualify as a type of leave, but only inside the same 150-day ceiling and with the right documentation. For the full process, see our guide to extending a Canada study permit from inside Canada.

We could not confirm from IRCC's pages how a change of program inside the same school should be reported, so we are not going to guess. Ask your school's international office how it records a program change, and ask for the confirmation in writing.

What proof should you keep?

Build a compliance folder in your first term and add to it every semester. A student who can produce the right paper within a day will resolve almost any question quickly.

• Your study permit and the letter of acceptance from your school.
• An enrolment confirmation for every term.
• Transcripts or grade reports that show progress.
• Written approval for any leave, with start and end dates.
• Medical or other evidence behind any leave, as appropriate.
• Records of the date you withdrew from any school or program, if you ever did.
• Your re-registration confirmation after a leave.

IRCC's own wording points to the date you withdrew from a school or study program as a piece of evidence, so make a note of it if it ever applies to you.

Which mistakes do Pakistani students make?

• Going home for a semester without asking. Family pressure or money problems are real, but leaving without authorization is the pattern that causes status trouble.
• Relying on a verbal yes. An advisor's casual agreement is not a record.
• Assuming a break is automatically authorized. Only scheduled breaks need no approval.
• Working during a leave. IRCC says you cannot.
• Letting the 150 days run over. The cap is in the IRCC wording, and a long delay can change a leave into a compliance problem.
• Believing an agent or senior who says "nobody checks". The regulation allows checks, and the wait of 6 months to reapply is stated on the IRCC page.
• Ignoring expiry. The conditions page tells you to leave Canada when your permit expires, and a leave does not extend the permit.

What does a realistic example look like?

This is an illustration, not a real client. Hira, a college student from Lahore, is in her second semester in Ontario when her father falls seriously ill in Pakistan.

• Straight away: she tells her international student office the situation and asks what leave her school can approve.
• Two days later: the school confirms in writing an authorized leave for a set period, well under the 150-day ceiling, with a return date.
• That evening: she saves the letter, her father's medical documents and her flight records, and she does not take any job during the leave.
• During the leave: she stays in contact with her program coordinator and confirms her return term.
• Return: she re-registers, keeps the confirmation, and files everything in her compliance folder.

Everything that protected her was paper, created at the time, and agreed with the school before she left.

Frequently asked questions