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GCKey "you are not signed in / Error 403" when applying for a study visa — is it you or the system?

Canada • Study Permit • study 0 views
By VisaBuddies Communityvia community — compiled from public visa forums

Step-by-Step

Historical note: this issue was reported during a specific outage window, so if you're hitting a similar error now, treat these as general troubleshooting steps rather than confirmation of an active outage.

  1. Check if it's a widespread server issue first — in this case, many group members reported the same "you are not signed in / Error 403" GCKey problem around the same time, pointing to a site-wide IRCC/GCKey server issue rather than an individual account problem.

  2. Clear your browser cookies and cache as a first troubleshooting step, in case it's a local session issue rather than a server-side one.

  3. If others are reporting the same error at the same time, the most likely fix is simply to wait it out — server-side outages have historically resolved within about a day.


Bottom line: before assuming your account or new GCKey is broken, check whether others are reporting the same error — it may just be a temporary IRCC/GCKey system outage.

Dos, Don'ts & Tips

  • Tip: Clear cookies/cache first, but if others report the same error simultaneously, it's likely a server-side outage, not your account.
  • Tip: (Historical) This specific outage cleared up within about a day in the reported case.

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