Field of study requirement

Depending on your study program, you may need to meet a field of study requirement to be eligible for a post-graduation work permit (PGWP).

Who doesn’t need to meet the field of study requirement

You don’t need to meet the field of study requirement if one of the following applies to you:

You submitted your PGWP application before November 1, 2024, regardless of level of study.
You graduated from a PGWP-eligible flight school.
You graduated with a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree or doctoral degree.
You applied for a study permit before November 1, 2024.

If you don’t meet one of the exceptions above, use the table below to check if your program is eligible for a PGWP.

How to meet the field of study requirement

You must graduate from a program that’s on the list of currently eligible Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) codes when you submit your

study permit application or
PGWP application

Eligible fields of study are linked to certain jobs in long-term shortage in Canada and can change based on the needs of the Canadian labour market. If your CIP code is not on the list of currently eligible codes when you apply for a PGWP, it may still be eligible based on when you submitted your study permit application.

What’s a CIP code?

A CIP code is a number we use to classify post-secondary education programs according to the field of study.

For PGWP eligibility, we use 6-digit CIP codes based on the CIP Canada 2021 (opens in a new tab).

To find your program’s CIP code, you can

check your designated learning institution’s (DLI) website
- Most DLIs have information about PGWP eligibility and CIP codes on their website.
contact your DLI
- Contact your DLI for more information about the program and applicable 6-digit CIP codes if you have any questions.
search the Statistics Canada CIP classification catalogue and find the 6-digit code that’s most applicable
- Search by keyword or by navigating through the available links in the main table.
- Program titles can be broad. Read the description, illustrative examples and exceptions found on the individual results to make sure your program matches.

Check if your CIP code is eligible

To meet the field of study requirement, your CIP code must be on the list of currently eligible CIP codes when you submit either your study permit application or your PGWP application.

We updated eligible CIP codes on July 4, 2025.

On July 4, 2025 we updated the list of eligible CIP codes to add back fields of study that were removed on June 25, 2025.

Those fields of study that were removed on June 25, 2025 will stay eligible until the list is next updated in early 2026. If you submitted your study permit application in one of them between June 25 and July 4 , you’ll still meet the field of study requirement when you graduate.

Eligible fields of study are linked to certain jobs in long-term shortage in Canada and can change based on the needs of the Canadian labour market.

Check below to see if your program’s CIP code meets the field of study requirement.

To find out if your CIP code is eligible

Check the list of currently eligible CIP codes

Check if your program’s 6-digit CIP code is on the list of CIP codes that are eligible right now.

Check all currently eligible CIP codes

Search for your CIP code

If you know the 6-digit CIP code for your program, you can search for it below.

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Date modified:: 2025-07-09

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