Student Partnership Program Colleges

Student Partnership Program Colleges - Canada

Popularly known as SPP, Student Partners Program is an administrative framework between the Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) and Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC). Launched in April 2009, the main objective behind this program was to streamline admission and visa process for Canadian Community Colleges which would increase the number of visas issued to Indian students for studying at Canadian Community Colleges. A large number of Indian students apply to various specialized trade requirement based diploma and Post graduate diploma program at Community Colleges in Canada.

SPP was initially only open for the Indian nationals, but gauging how successful it turned out to be, the project has been extended to China as well. Under this program, nearly 40 Canadian colleges are listed and there are several other ACCC colleges which welcome Indian students.

Students planning to pursue studies in Canada can apply to any of the participating SPP colleges. Applications under this program receive prompt processing and a fair decision based on the documents furnished by the students. In case an applicant meets the eligibility criteria of the college applied to, then he/she will be considered under the SPP program

Eligibility Criteria

As mentioned above, students need to fulfill the eligibility criteria for their application to be considered under the SPP program.

Those applying for a program under SPP must meet the following eligibility criteria:-

An overall IELTS score of 6.0 with no band less than 5.5. The test score must not be older than two years.
A study gap of no more than five years is allowed, with certain exceptions made for students with a three year gap who have excellent grades with work experience.
Not more than 8 backlogs in recent studies are accepted under SPP.
The course applied must be relevant to the student’s previous study background and must add value to the previous education.
Minimum 50% score in their recently completed degree or diploma or Higher as per the SPP institution specific requirement.
Furnish proof of payment of the tuition fee for one semester or one year (as asked by the SPP College).
Purchase of a special Guaranteed Investment Certificate (GIC) from Scotia Bank of CAD$10,000 to cover living expenses for the first year of stay in Canada.
Students with previous study visa rejection are not allowed to reapply under SPP visa category.

Advantages of applying under SPP

Following are the major advantages of applying under SPP: -

Streamlined admission and visa guidelines for all SPP participating institutions.
Less visa documentation.
Faster visa processing.

Working in Canada under SPP

Work permit is open to all international students who have graduated with a recognized qualification from any of the accredited institutions in Canada be it the SPP colleges or non SPP colleges. The Work permit scheme has its own defined requirements which every student must qualify or satisfy in order to work in Canada.

As per the prevailing work permit regulations in Canada, students whose course period is two years or more are eligible for a Post Study work permit of up to 3 years in Canada. On the other hand, those whose course duration is one year or less than 1 year are eligible for a work permit equal to their duration of study.

SPP Colleges in Canada