Frequently Asked Questions

The amount of time required for Red Deer Polytechnic to process an international student application depends on many factors such as time of the year and the completeness of the application received. Typically, if a complete international application is received, including all supporting documentation, the application will be processed in 10-12 business days.   

If an international applicant’s study permit is denied by IRCC (Government of Canada), a refund of the tuition fee deposit may be requested by emailing proof of denial to international [dot] admissions [at] rdpolytech [dot] ca (international[dot]admissions[at]rdpolytech[dot]ca). For a refund to be approved, the applicant must provide an official communication from IRCC confirming the denial prior to the term's add/drop date. In such instances, a $400 cancellation fee will be charged.  

If you are working with an Authorized Red Deer Polytechnic Agent, you may complete a Consent for Authorized Agent form to formally request that the agent be included in all communications from the Office of the Registrar throughout the application and admission process. All Authorized Red Deer Polytechnic Agents have access to the Consent for Authorized Agent form. If you would like someone other than an Authorized Red Deer Polytechnic Agent (non-authorized agent, family member, friend) to be included in all communications from the Office of the Registrar, you may complete and submit a Consent to Release Student Personal Information form to admissions [at] rdpolytech [dot] ca (admissions[at]rdpolytech[dot]ca). 

You may request verification if the agent you are working with is authorized by Red Deer Polytechnic by emailing agents [at] rdpolytech [dot] ca (agents[at]rdpolytech[dot]ca).  

If circumstances arise and you are unable to attend Red Deer Polytechnic, you can request an admission deferral to a different term in the same academic year. Email the Office of the Registrar at international [dot] admissions [at] rdpolytech [dot] ca (international[dot]admissions[at]rdpolytech[dot]ca) with rationale to request the deferral. You are unable to defer your admission to the next academic year.

If you would like to change the program you have applied for, please email international [dot] admissions [at] rdpolytech [dot] ca (international[dot]admissions[at]rdpolytech[dot]ca). The application fee you pay is valid for one academic year (July-June).  

Red Deer Polytechnic assesses and may recognize your prior learning through the Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) process. Once accepted into a Red Deer Polytechnic program, international applicants with international documents may apply for a Prior Learning Assessment, including transfer credit, by providing course outlines/syllabi (in English).  If course outlines/syllabi are not in English, the applicant must provide translated copies from an approved translation service provider. 

*You must be accepted into a Red Deer Polytechnic program before you are able to apply for a Prior Learning Assessment. 
 

You should begin the process of applying for your study permit as soon as you receive your Letter of Acceptance. For Study Permit processing times by country see the official information on the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website. 

The school must mail or email the TOR directly to Red Deer Polytechnic, or the student can bring a copy that has been sealed by the school and has not been opened with them in person or mail it to our office themselves.

You can take the required courses at Red Deer Polytechnic through either Academic Upgrading (high school level courses only) or Open Studies.

Some programs allow students to write an Entrance Test in lieu of presenting the required courses for admission. This includes: Administrative Professional, Educational Assistant, Early Learning and Childcare, Healthcare Aide, Management Certificate, Legal Assistant, Social Work and Visual Art.

Consent to Release Personal Information form (required for students applying with an agent or if you want someone to be able to inquire on your behalf)

Post-Secondary TORs

High School transcripts, if the graduation date was in 2018 or later

Philippines applicants will meet English Language Proficiency through Method 3 (3 years of full-time education in English at the Secondary or Post-Secondary level, except for Health Science programs, which require IELTS or TOEFL from ALL students whose first language is not English.

For more information, visit the English Language Proficiency Requirements webpage.

Documents will be assessed for the admission requirements only after the application has been submitted. You can use this link to get a general idea of equivalents for your country and compare to the admission requirements listed on the specific program page.

Secondary transcripts are required for students who graduated in 2018 or later. Students who graduated prior to 2018 will be assessed based on post-secondary transcripts.

Even though transfer credit may be posted to the student’s final post-secondary institution’s transcripts, if it does not include the grading scale for the earlier institutions, we will require copies of the TOR for ALL institutions.

We can verify WAEC and NECO results online. Please provide scratch card/token numbers and required exam year/type and number, in lieu of having official results mailed to Red Deer Polytechnic.

You can take the required courses at Red Deer Polytechnic through either Academic Upgrading (high school level courses only) or Open Studies.

Some programs allow students to write an Entrance Test in lieu of presenting the required courses for admission. This includes: Administrative Professional, Educational Assistant, Early Learning and Childcare, Healthcare Aide, Management Certificate, Legal Assistant, Social Work and Visual Art.

WAEC and NECO English is equivalent to English Language Arts (ELA) 30-2. The student will not qualify for any program that requires ELA 30-1. Students can take the ELA 30-1 equivalent at Red Deer Polytechnic in advance of their goal program through either Academic Upgrading (high school level courses only) or Open Studies (which requires a C or C6 in English but allows students to take College level courses along with their required English course).

We cannot assess international post-secondary documents for admission requirements (except Philippines post-secondary). If the student believes they have taken the required courses in University/College, they may get an assessment for educational purposes through IQAS (International Qualifications Assessment Service) completed. Note that this is an additional cost and typically takes several months to complete.

For more information, visit the International Course Equivalencies webpage.

Consent to Release Personal Information form (required for students applying with an agent or if you want someone to be able to inquire on your behalf)

WAEC or NECO results and/or scratch card/token

All applicants with WEAC or NECO results will meet English Language Proficiency through Method 3 (3 years of full-time education in English at the Secondary or Post-Secondary level), except for Health Science programs, which require IELTS or TOEFL from ALL students whose first language is not English.

For more information, visit the English Language Proficiency Requirements webpage.

There is no age limit to attend Red Deer Polytechnic and we happily accept students who have been out of school for any length of time.

You can take the required courses at Red Deer Polytechnic through either Academic Upgrading (high school level courses only) or Open Studies.

Some programs allow students to write an Entrance Test in lieu of presenting the required courses for admission. This includes: Administrative Professional, Educational Assistant, Early Learning and Childcare, Healthcare Aide, Management Certificate, Legal Assistant, Social Work and Visual Art.

Business Administration also permits Entrance Testing for students who have taken Economics, Accountancy or Statistics at the XII level.

Consent to Release Personal Information form (required for students applying with an agent or if you want someone to be able to inquire on your behalf)

XII results

Medium of Instruction letter if required (see below)

IELTS or other English proficiency test, if available

Info required to verify XII results online, if available

Documents will be assessed for the admission requirements only after the application has been submitted. You can use this link to get a general idea of equivalents for your country and compare to the admission requirements listed on the specific program page.

If the XII results are from a school board other than CBSE or CISCE, we will need a letter from the school, confirming the medium of instruction in order to assess the documents. Please provide this at the time of application, if possible.

If the school board offers the option to access results through their website, we will consider these results official if you provide the correct information for us to access the results (admit card, roll number, exam number etc). We will not accept results retrieved from a website other than the school board. If the results are not available online, we will require official copies mailed or emailed from the issuing institution.

If the student has completed XII English with a grade of C (45%) or higher AND provides proof that they attended an English Medium school (CBSE and CISCE are acknowledged as English Medium school boards), they will meet English Language Proficiency through Method 2, completion of English Language Arts 30-1 or equivalent with a minimum percentage grade of 60%. The exception is for Health Science programs, which require IELTS or TOEFL from ALL students whose first language is not English.

For more information, visit the English Language Proficiency Requirements webpage.

Consent to Release Personal Information form (required for students applying with an agent or if you want someone to be able to inquire on your behalf)

GCSE, GCE AS, A-level and O-level results, or equivalent

Any program that requires English Language Arts 30-1 will require A-level English. If the student does not meet this requirement, they can take the ELA 30-1 equivalent at Red Deer Polytechnic in advance of their goal program through either Academic Upgrading (high school level courses only) or Open Studies (which requires a B or higher in O-level English but allows students to take College level courses along with their required English course).

Documents will be assessed for the admission requirements only after the application has been submitted. You can use this link to get a general idea of equivalents for your country and compare to the admission requirements listed on the specific program page.

All applicants with UK system exam results will meet English Language Proficiency through Method 3 (3 years of full-time education in English at the Secondary or Post-Secondary level), except for Health Science programs, which require IELTS or TOEFL from ALL students whose first language is not English. The exception to this is students from Sri Lanka, who will need to provide a letter from their school confirming their education was taught in English.

For more information, visit the English Language Proficiency Requirements webpage.