Intakes in Canada
There are mainly three intakes to get admission into Canadian universities for international students. The intakes are known as fall intake which starts in September, winter intake which starts in January, and the third and less popular intake would be summer intake which starts in May. Among the three intakes fall intake is the primary one all the universities and courses accept the applications for this intake, if in case students miss the opportunity to get admission for fall intake, they can opt for winter intake which is also offered by many universities and a large number of courses are available in this intake as well. The spring intake does not have many options on courses and universities, since the applications have been filled up in the fall and winter intake itself, most of the diploma programs will be available during this intake. However few universities extend their winter intake deadlines if there is a vacancy for applications and enough seats available, so students need to check for that in their desired university and course. The deadline for these intakes mostly varies based on the universities and below give table might help you have a basic idea of the deadlines.
| S. No | Intake | Deadline | Duration of the course |
| 1 | Fall- September | December to March | September to December |
| 2 | Winter- January | September to November | January to April |
| 3 | Spring- May | January to February | May to August |
Fall Intake
Students can start applying for this intake from the month of august and complete all the required procedures like collecting the documents and shortlisting the universities based on the course they want to apply to they should also check on the application deadline for that specific university and submit the application a month before the closing date. The closing dates for September applications fall between the months of December and March and may vary according to the universities. This intake is also known as a primary intake for international students that offer all the courses in the desired universities in Canada. It will also help students to be ahead of other students by 4 to 5 months which would help them get better job opportunities right back in Canada making their PR processes easy.
few universities that offer fall intake
- Dalhousie University
- Columbia College
- Fraser International College
- George Brown College
- Lakehead University
- Manitoba Institute of Trades and Technology
- Navitas International College of Manitoba
- Saskatchewan Polytechnic University
Winter Intake
Students can start applying for this intake from the month of June and complete the required procedure like shortlisting the universities, writing the English proficiency test, collecting the document, and sending through the application. All these processes must be completed by November. In this intake not all the universities offer courses as compared to fall intake but students who missed the fall intake can apply for winter intake instead of waiting for one long year. However, the climate during winters is so cold in Canada providing less time for international students to adapt to the university environment, unlike fall intake students. The duration of the first semester would be from January to April.
few universities that offer winter intake
- Fanshawe College
- Cape Breton University
- Douglas College
- Lambton College
- Mount Saint Vincent University
- Carleton University
- Centennial College
Spring Intake
It is also called May intake as the semester starts in May, it is the least preferred intake due to the fewer availability of courses and the universities which offer this intake are very less. This semester is considered spring or summer break in Canada so most of the students do not apply for this intake. To apply for this intake, start your application processes by August, it becomes very important for students applying for spring intake to choose the best possible career option but for students applying for diploma courses can find many options during this intake. Students should complete their application process by February since all the deadlines of the universities may close by this month, however, this might vary so students need to check the university web page for exact dates.
few universities that offer spring intake
- Mount Saint Vincent University
- Brock University
- University of the Fraser Valley
- Kwantlen Polytechnic University
- Capilano University
- New York Institute of Technology
- Lakehead University