The PGWP Support Letter: What Your School Confirms and Why You Need It

If you're getting ready to apply for a Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP), you've probably heard you need a PGWP support letter from your school — sometimes called a letter of completion or a confirmation of graduation. It's easy to assume your final transcript already says everything IRCC needs to know. It doesn't. IRCC wants a document that comes directly from your designated learning institution (DLI) confirming, in its own words, that you finished what you enrolled in.

This matters because a PGWP application lives or dies on proof that you actually completed an eligible program at an eligible school. A transcript shows your grades. It doesn't always confirm your program status, your enrolment dates, or that you met your institution's own graduation requirements. That's the gap the support letter fills.

Below is what the letter typically needs to say, when to ask for it, and what to do if your school is slow to issue one.

What a PGWP Support Letter Actually Is

A PGWP support letter (institutions use different names for it — confirmation of completion, official letter of completion, or attestation of graduation) is a document issued by your DLI's registrar or international student office. Its job is narrow but important: it tells IRCC, in writing, that you were enrolled in a specific program, for a specific period, and that you met the requirements to complete it.

It is not a substitute for your transcript, and it is not a substitute for your final credential (degree, diploma, or certificate) once it's issued. Most PGWP applications rely on a combination of documents — the letter, your transcript, and eventually your certificate or degree parchment — to build a complete picture.

Why IRCC Wants This From the School Itself

IRCC's eligibility rules for a PGWP require graduating from a designated learning institution and meeting program-type requirements tied to that credential. A transcript alone can be ambiguous: it might not clearly say whether you finished the entire program versus just a set of courses, or whether your specific program is the one IRCC needs to see. A letter from the institution, addressed to IRCC or "to whom it may concern," closes that ambiguity by confirming completion in plain terms.

This is also part of a broader pattern in immigration processing: eligibility criteria for study-related permits change fairly often by ministerial instruction, not just by statute. A current, direct-from-the-school letter reduces the chance that older or generic wording creates confusion about what you actually completed.

What the Letter Should Confirm

A useful support letter should include:

• [ ] Your full legal name (matching your passport and study permit)
• [ ] The exact name of the program you completed
• [ ] Confirmation that the program has been fully completed (not "expected to complete" or "in progress")
• [ ] Start and end dates of the program
• [ ] The credential type (degree, diploma, certificate) and whether it has been or will be conferred
• [ ] Confirmation that the institution is a designated learning institution
• [ ] A signature, date, and contact information from an authorized school official

If any of these are missing or vague, ask the registrar's office to amend the letter before you rely on it. A letter that hedges ("expected to graduate") can create real problems if submitted at the wrong time — see our companion discussion of PGWP application timing for more on that trade-off.

When to Request It

Request your letter as soon as your institution can confirm you've met all program requirements — not just passed your last exam, but cleared any outstanding academic or administrative holds. Some schools issue these automatically at convocation; others require a written request through the registrar or international office. Ask early, because institutional processing can take time, especially during peak graduation periods when many students request the same document at once.

If Your School Delays or Won't Issue One

If your institution is slow, escalate through the international student office first — they typically understand PGWP timelines better than a general registrar's desk. If the school has closed, lost its designation, or otherwise cannot issue the letter, that's a more serious problem that can affect your PGWP eligibility directly, and it's worth getting advice before you submit anything to IRCC. Keep every email exchange with the school; it becomes useful evidence if you ever need to explain a documentation gap.

How This Fits Your Overall Eligibility

The support letter is one piece of a larger eligibility picture. PGWP length is generally tied to how long your study program was, up to a maximum, and most people can only receive one PGWP in their lifetime — so it's worth making sure this application is built correctly the first time. Program-type rules also apply, and for study permits issued from November 1, 2024 onward, non-degree programs below the bachelor's level must fall within an eligible field of study; degree programs are exempt from that particular list. Because these criteria are refined periodically, verify the current requirements for your specific program before you submit.

Frequently asked questions