An applicant with a WES ECA and an IELTS General report asked about programs and visa processing for a PG Diploma in British Columbia, and was initially told they'd need to sit IELTS Academic instead.
What the thread clarified:- IRCC's own published SDS eligibility criteria accept either IELTS General or Academic, at a minimum of 6.0 in each skill (reading, writing, speaking, listening). A member quoted this directly, correcting the earlier claim that Academic was required.
- What actually matters is meeting the band-score minimum, not which IELTS variant you took — as long as your General score clears 6.0 in each section, it should meet SDS requirements.
The practical takeaway: don't assume you need to retake IELTS as Academic for an SDS application — check the specific band-score requirement first, since General is accepted at the same minimum thresholds.