Invite or Bring Family to Canada

Most visitors to Canada need a Visitor Visa or an Electronic Travel Authorization to enter Canada.  The documents that your family must submit to apply to visit Canada depend on many factors, such as their nationality and how they will travel to Canada.  Your family can discover what documents are needed to apply to visit you in Canada here.

Supporting Documents from You:

• Copy of your passport
• Copy of your study permit
  • Should be valid for the duration of your family’s proposed visit
• Confirmation of Enrollment Letter on your NAIT Portal
  • Please visit the ‘Letters for Immigration Purposes’ tab on the left to learn more.
• Letter of Invitation
  • Include information about you, your family members applying to visit Canada, and the purpose of your family’s visit to Canada.You can find details about what specifics should be included in your Letter of Invitation here.
  • Some visa offices require that the Letter of Invitation be notarized.
  • Be honest in your Letter of Invitation.  You can review a sample Letter of Invitation here.
• Proposed Confirmation of Graduation Letter (if you are inviting family to attend your NAIT Convocation)
  • Please visit the ‘Letters for Immigration Purposes’ tab on the left to learn more.

When your family travels to Canada, they may want to carry the above supporting documents in case a border services officer asks to see them.

Applying for an Initial Open Work Permit for your Spouse

Beginning on March 19, 2024, only spouses or common-law partners of international students in master’s, doctorate, or professional degree programs are eligible for an initial open work permit.  You can see the list of eligible programs here.  As a result of this change, spouses and common-law partners of NAIT students are no longer eligible to apply for an initial open work permit.

Extending your Spouse’s Open Work Permit

If your spouse or common-law partner already has an open work permit under this stream, they are eligible to apply to extend it if you are studying full-time in a post-graduation work permit (PGWP) eligible program.  If your spouse needs to extend their open work permit, you should provide a copy of your study permit, proof of your relationship, and a Confirmation of Enrollment letter from the NAIT Portal to your spouse/common-law partner to include in their application.

If you’d like your minor children to accompany you and to study in Canada, you can submit study permit applications for them as part of your initial study permit application or at a later time. 

• Parents who will have or currently have a valid study permit do not need to include a Letter of Acceptance for their minor children when applying for a study permit.

If the study permit application for your child is submitted after your study permit application has been approved, you should include a copy of your study permit and a Confirmation of Enrollment letter as part of the application. Please visit the ‘Letters for Immigration Purposes’ tab on the left to discover how to download a Confirmation of Enrollment letter.

If your minor children are already in Canada as visitors, they can study without a study permit as long as you have a valid study permit.

You can review information about minor children studying in Canada here.

Please contact the school board where you intend to enrol your child for information about tuition costs.