“Not a genuine student” — the officer doubted your study intention
The officer believed the study permit was being used as an immigration route rather than for education.
Common refusal groundThis is one of the most frequently cited grounds. It is fixable.
What the law actually saysIRPR s. 216(1)
An officer shall issue a study permit if the foreign national applied in accordance with the Regulations, will leave Canada by the end of their authorised stay, meets the requirements of the Part, and has been accepted by a designated learning institution.
Officers assess whether the study plan makes sense for you specifically. The question they are answering is: would a genuine student with this background, in this situation, realistically choose this programme?
A refusal here is usually written in the notes as a chain of small inconsistencies rather than one big problem — course choice, spending, career logic and the SOP all pulling in different directions.
Why this gets written
These are the situations that most often produce this finding. Your notes will usually name the specific one.
A steep academic downgrade — a master's holder enrolling in a one-year certificate
Long unexplained gaps between your last study and this application
Tuition that is disproportionate to your family's means for a qualification of limited value at home
An SOP that reads as generic or agent-written
Choosing an institution purely on ease of admission
What actually fixes it
Fix the thing the officer named. Changing everything else at once usually makes a file look staged.
Make the career logic explicit and specific, with named roles and employers at home
Explain gaps with evidence — work, family responsibility, exams retaken
Choose a programme that a reasonable person would agree fits your history
Write the SOP yourself in your own voice; officers read hundreds of template ones
This is general information, not legal advice. Every file turns on its own facts. We have quoted the legislation above so you can check it yourself. For a misrepresentation finding under A40, speak to a Canadian immigration lawyer or an RCIC before you do anything.
Officers write several codes on one file, and only one of them is usually the real reason. Send us your notes and we will tell you which line actually decided your case — and what to do about it.
