Designated Learning Institution Portal enrolment guide

This guide is for the Designated Learning Institution Portal for compliance reporting. For information on letter of acceptance (LOA) verification, read the LOA verification guide for the IRCC Portal.

Table of contents

Introduction

The Designated Learning Institution (DLI) Portal is a secure environment which enables users to electronically conduct business with IRCC.

A DLI is a Canadian university, college, or other educational institution that has been deemed eligible, by their authorizing province or territory, to participate in IRCC's International Student Program (ISP).

This guide provides step-by-step enrolment instructions for users enrolling to use the DLI Portal.

Secure credential

The secure credential service is provided by the Government of Canada to allow users to securely conduct business online with IRCC. When users enrol in the DLI Portal, their unique secure credential identity is linked to their DLI Portal account. Each time a user attempts to access the portal, they are required to input their secure credential user ID and password. If a user forgets their secure credential user ID, it cannot be retrieved by the secure credential service or IRCC. In addition, if a user has forgotten or misplaced their password, the security features do not allow the secure credential service to recover the password. However, users can create a new password by correctly responding to the recovery questions they created when they enrolled.

Note: If a user loses their secure credential user ID or responds incorrectly to their recovery questions, they must register for a new secure credential user ID and re-enrol in the DLI Portal.

Note: You must register for a new secure credential to access the DLI Portal even if you already have one as part of the Off Campus Work Permit Program.

DLI Portal username and password

Before accessing the DLI Portal for the first time, you must register for a GCKey or Sign-In Partner (Interac® sign-in service) credential.

GCKey credential

A GCKey is a unique credential that protects your online communications with government programs and services.

Registering for a GCKey

  1. From the Access the Designated Learning Institution Portal page, click Continue to GCKey.

    You will be directed to the Welcome to GCKey homepage.

  2. Select the language of your choice.
  3. Click Sign Up.
  4. Read the Terms and Conditions of Use and click I Accept.
  5. You will be asked to create a username. Click Continue.
  6. You will be asked to create a password. Click Continue.
  7. Create your recovery questions, answers and hints. Your GCKey credential has now been created.

    Note: Remember your GCKey user ID and password. They are case sensitive and cannot be recovered if lost.

Sign-In Partner (Interac® sign-in service)

The Sign-In Partner service allows users to access Government of Canada online services using their existing username and password for 1 of the financial or banking institutions currently participating in the service. Users who have an existing online username and password with select institutions may use this service.

Using Sign-In Partner

  1. From the Access the Designated Learning Institution Portal page, click Continue to Sign-In Partner. You will be directed to the home page of Interac® sign-in service.
  2. Select the language of your choice.
  3. Select an institution from the Sign-In Partner list.
  4. Enter your username and password for that financial or banking institution.

Accessing and enrolling in the DLI Portal

Once a user has obtained a GCKey or has accessed the DLI Portal using Sign-In Partner, the learning institution’s primary user needs to submit an enrolment request to IRCC to enrol in the portal as a DLI.

Accessing the DLI Portal

  1. From the Access the Designated Learning Institution Portal page, click Continue to GCKey.

    You will be directed to the Welcome to GCKey homepage.

  2. Enter your GCKey user ID and password in the appropriate fields and click Sign In.

    Note: Remember your GCKey user ID and password. They are case sensitive and cannot be recovered if lost.

  3. You will see the GCKey welcome page, which displays your user ID and last sign-in information (date and time). Click Continue.
  4. Read the DLI Portal Terms and Conditions and click I Accept.
  5. Answer the Identity Validation question and click Continue.
  6. You will be taken to the portal welcome page, where you will see the primary user Contact Information and Manage access section which lists the secondary user(s).

    Note: Primary users should click No when asked if they have received a Personal Identification Number (PIN).

Submitting an enrolment request

The enrolment process consists of a short series of questions which populate the online DLI Portal enrolment request questionnaire. Users cannot proceed to the next question until the previous question is answered. After answering a question, click Next to proceed to the next question.

The Modify my Answers button allows users to review and modify answers prior to submitting their DLI Portal enrolment request to IRCC. If a user modifies a previous answer, and depending on the new answer(s), users may need to answer different or additional questions.

Note: The information users provide must be identical to the information provided by the DLI's authorizing province or territory.

To submit a portal enrolment request

  1. Click Create a DLI and Enrol as the Primary Representative.
  2. Complete the online enrolment questionnaire.
  3. Electronically sign your enrolment request and click Submit.
  4. Once you have completed the enrolment process, please inform the International Student Program team by emailing IRCC.DLIList-ListeEED.IRCC@cic.gc.ca to finalize the application process.

Important: Users who submit false or inaccurate information may be refused access to the DLI Portal.

After a primary user's enrolment request is processed

After a primary user's enrolment request is processed by IRCC, they receive an e-mail message notifying them of the result. A user may be notified that their enrolment request was approved or refused.

Note: E-mails to DLI Portal users are sent from donotreply@cic.gc.ca. Users should make sure that this address is on their safe sender list so that emails are not automatically sent to a junk mail or delete folder.

Approved enrolment

If a primary user's portal enrolment request is approved, they will be notified by e-mail that their portal account is active.

When this e-mail is received, primary users are able to log back into the DLI Portal and have full access to the various features of the portal.

Please refer to the Accessing the DLI Portal section of this guide for steps on how to access the portal.

Refused enrolment

If a primary user's enrolment request is refused, the user should contact their authorizing province or territory's representative.

Verify the following to ensure that an enrolment request is not refused:

  1. Learning institution is designated by your authorizing province or territory. Users should make sure that their province or territory has authorized the learning institution to participate in the International Student Program.
  2. Learning institution information matches what your authorizing province or territory has on file. When users enrol, learning institutions must provide IRCC with identical information to the information that was provided to IRCC by their authorizing province or territory.
  3. Learning institution has not previously enrolled in the portal and obtained a DLI number from IRCC. If a primary users has previously enrolled in the portal, and their learning institution already has a DLI number from IRCC, they must contact their provincial or territorial representative to re-enrol in the portal.

Accessing the portal as a secondary user

Once portal access has been granted to a DLI, the primary user can grant and manage access within their organization via the portal.

If you are accessing the portal as a secondary user, ensure that you have registered for a GCKey user ID and password, and have received a Personal Identification Number (PIN) from your DLI's primary user.

To access the portal as a secondary user using GCKey

  1. From the Access the Designated Learning Institution Portal page, click Continue to GCKey.

    You will be directed to the Welcome to GCKey homepage.

  2. Enter your GCKey user ID and password in the appropriate fields and click Sign In.

    Note: Remember your GCKey user ID and password. They are case sensitive and cannot be recovered if lost.

  3. You will see the GCKey Welcome page, which displays your user ID and last sign-in information (date and time). Click Continue.
  4. Read the DLI Portal Terms and Conditions and click I Accept.
  5. Enter your Given Name(s), Family Name, and PIN in the appropriate fields and click Continue.

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