If your study permit application is submitted, medicals are cleared, but no decision has come through by the time your program's original start date has already passed, the group's advice was consistent:
- Request a deferred intake letter from your school — since you're now past your original start date, ask the institution for a new offer/enrolment confirmation tied to the next intake (in this case, moving from January to May).
- Keep your existing application active rather than withdrawing it. Continue waiting on the same file for your visa decision — don't assume a stalled file means you need to restart the process.
- Notify IRCC of the updated intake date once you have the new letter, so your file reflects that you're still eligible to travel once the visa is issued, even though the original start date has lapsed.
- If the visa is approved after you've already deferred, update IRCC to confirm you're proceeding with the new (later) intake rather than the one originally listed in your application.
This is a common situation for students facing long processing times — deferring the intake keeps the application valid rather than forcing a fresh submission, but it does require proactively coordinating both with your school (for the new letter) and with IRCC (to update your file).