An applicant aged 37 (MSc completed 2008, ~6 years of work, then several years with no study or job) asked whether a Canadian master's with spouse and two kids was still realistic. The thread was encouraging but specific about what it takes:
- Age and gaps are not automatic disqualifiers. One member (an education counselor) said they were working with students over 50; another had their own study visa approved at 35, applying with family.
- The gap must be justified convincingly. The approved member's advice: if you can explain the gap and convince the visa officer of a real need to study in Canada now, approval is achievable. Unexplained blank years are the risk, not the years themselves.
- Family applications with gaps do get approved. The member who was approved at 35 applied together with their family for a January intake — evidence that spouse-and-kids files aren't doomed by a mature applicant profile.
- Career-break reasons count. Another commenter in a similar spot had resigned to care for a child with developmental delay — the thread treated genuine, documentable life reasons as usable SOP material rather than something to hide.
Practical approach: account for every gap period honestly (work, caregiving, upskilling), tie the chosen program to a concrete career restart plan, and choose a program that logically extends your existing MSc and IT/professional background.