If you never enrolled at the original college and got a refund, you cannot simply arrive at the Canadian port of entry with a new letter of acceptance from a different college and expect your existing study permit to cover it.
What group members confirmed:
- Study permits in Canada are tied to a specific Designated Learning Institution (DLI). Showing up with an acceptance letter from a new college, without formally updating your permit, will not satisfy the border officer (CBSA) — the officer can refuse entry or flag the mismatch.
- A DLI change requires a new study permit application. You need to submit a fresh application with the new LOA before travelling, rather than assuming the remaining validity period of your old permit transfers automatically.
- The change needs to be approved by IRCC, not just decided unilaterally — don't skip this step even if your existing permit still has over a year of validity left.
Bottom line: if you're switching DLIs, treat it as a new study permit application tied to the new institution, not a simple substitution under your old permit.