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Already have a master's? Picking a second Canadian program that supports your study-visa case

Canada • Study Permit • study 0 views
By VisaBuddies Communityvia community — compiled from public visa forums

Step-by-Step

For applicants who already hold a bachelor's and a master's (here, an MBA in HR/marketing) and 5+ years of matching work experience, group members weighed in on how to pick a second Canadian program for a study permit:

  1. Stay within your existing field. If your background is HR, a program in HR (whether a diploma or another master's/PG) keeps your study plan coherent and easier to justify to a visa officer.

  2. Avoid an unrelated field like computer science just because it's popular. Members were split on diploma vs. another master's/PG, but agreed a switch into an unrelated technical field would look inconsistent given an HR career history.

  3. A consistent story between education, work experience, and the new program is what a visa officer is assessing — the specific credential level (diploma vs. master's) mattered less to advisors than whether the field made sense.


Takeaway: whichever credential level you choose, keep the subject area aligned with your work history rather than switching to a different field for perceived opportunity.

Dos, Don'ts & Tips

  • Do: Pick a program in the same field as your existing work experience (e.g. HR) to keep your study plan coherent.
  • Don't: Don't switch into an unrelated field like computer science purely because it seems in-demand — it can look inconsistent with your background.
  • Tip: Whether to choose a diploma or another master's is less important than whether the field matches your career history.

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