Dear Students,

After consulting with the government and public health authorities, as well as Senate Executive at York, University leadership has determined that the Fall term will be delivered for the most part online and remotely.

For the School of Continuing Studies, this means that all our full-time Continuing Professional Education Post-Graduate programs which begin in September 2020 will be offered online until the end of December 2020. Further details will be made available for the second half of programs that start in January as public health information becomes available. You will still require a valid study permit prior to the program start in September.

Many post-secondary institutions across Canada have also decided to deliver their fall semester mostly online. In light of this, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has issued updated guidelines on the Post-Graduation Work Permit Program (PGWPP) to help international students and post-secondary institutions during this time.

The new rules state that, “PGWPP eligibility will not be affected for international students whose fall 2020 courses will be online due to COVID-19. This is in line with guidance provided to students already studying in Canada or whose program had a spring or summer start date. Students in this situation may begin their classes while outside Canada and complete up to 50% of their program via distance learning if they cannot travel to Canada sooner.” For more information on this change, please review the IRCC’s notice issued last month.

Please note that the Government of Canada has enacted travel restrictions. We do not recommend that you travel to Canada at this time. As classes are online, we will accommodate students in their current location until we are advised that the campus will reopen. At that time, we will make the necessary accommodations to ensure that students can travel to Canada without missing class work.

If you choose to come to Canada before December 2020, please notify our office regscs@yorku.ca of your plans. In addition, the Government of Canada mandates anyone arriving in Canada from a destination abroad MUST go directly into a self-quarantine. This mean you will not have an opportunity to go grocery shopping or perform any other outdoor tasks to establish yourself in Canada.

You will be required to have health insurance prior to immigrating to Canada. Our office will follow up with you regarding medical insurance in early December.
If you have any questions, we encourage you to access York’s dedicated COVID-19 webpage, which includes answers to FAQs as well as links to supporting resources. For all other questions, please contact regscs@yorku.ca.

As always, our student’s safety and educational experience is our top priority. We will provide you with relevant institutional and public health updates as soon as they become available to us.

Stay well,
School of Continuing Studies