A member who received an offer letter from a university, but hadn't yet accepted it, asked whether they needed to accept the offer first before applying for a study permit, and how the process actually flows.
What the thread clarified:- The document you need to apply for your study permit is the Letter of Acceptance (LOA), not the initial offer letter. These are two different documents — the offer letter comes first, and the LOA is issued afterward once you've formally accepted and generally paid the required fees.
- You need to accept the offer (and typically pay the associated fee) before the university issues the LOA. Only after that do you have the document required to actually apply for your study permit.
The practical takeaway: don't confuse your offer letter with your Letter of Acceptance — you'll need to formally accept the offer and pay any required fee first, after which the university issues the LOA, which is the actual document you submit with your study permit application.