Canadian Status Verification

WHen IS THE LAST DAY TO SUBMIT DOCUMENTS as proof of canadian status?

Students beginning their studies at SFU are required to submit their proof of Canadian status documentation via goSFU by the tuition deadline of their first enrolment term.

If you do not submit your documentation by this deadline, you may be blocked from future enrolment.

If you are being charged the international tuition rate and you believe this is in error, please contact reginfo@sfu.ca for next steps.

WHAT DOCUMENTS ARE ACCEPTED AS PROOF OF CANADIAN STATUS?

The following documents will be accepted as proof of Canadian Status. Expired documents will be rejected.

Canadian Passport - Passports must include a signed signature page in order to be valid for ID purposes.
Secure Certificate of Indian Status Card (SCIS)
Certificate of Indian Status Card
Canadian Birth Certificate* **
Canadian Citizenship Certificate* **
Canadian Permanent Resident Card
Confirmation of Permanent Residence document*

* Must be presented with valid Canadian government-issued photo ID. If you do not have any valid Canadian government-issued photo ID, please contact reginfo@sfu.ca.

** Commemorative versions of the BC Birth Certificate and the commemorative form of a Canadian Citizenship certificates are not accepted.

If you are unsure whether or not your citizenship document is considered commemorative, please consult the Government of Canada website or contact us for more information

WHERE DO I SUBMIT MY PROOF OF CANADIAN STATUS?

Please submit copies of the documentation that verify your Canadian status by accessing the Citizenship Verification "To Do List" of your goSFU Student Center.

WHY DOES SFU NEED THIS DOCUMENTATION?

The practice of confirming citizenship is standard best-practice amongst Canadian post-secondary institutions. In 2019, the SFU Board of Governors recommended that SFU undertake this practice and the Registrar was tasked with implementing a verification process.

HOW LONG WILL SFU KEEP MY DOCUMENTATION ON FILE?

Documents submitted for the purpose of citizenship verification will be kept on file for one year.

WHAT PROCEDURES ARE IN PLACE TO DISPOSE OF THE DOCUMENTS I HAVE UPLOADED?

After a period of six months, the form submissions will be deleted from SFU Records.

I AM AN SFU EMPLOYEE, HR/PAYROLL HAS MY INFORMATION ALREADY. WHY ARE YOU ASKING FOR IT AGAIN, OR WHY CAN'T YOU CONFIRM WITH THEM DIRECTLY?

As SFU HR/Payroll does not use the Student Information System (goSFU), Student Services staff do not have access to documentation or records submitted during the hiring process. We would therefore ask that you submit the documentation separately.

I AM AN INTERNATIONAL STUDENT, WHY IS SFU ASKING ME FOR THIS DOCUMENTATION?

If you are an international student and you have been asked for Citizenship Verification documentation, there is likely an error on your record. Please email us at reginfo@sfu.ca to report your international student status.

Troubleshooting FAQs

How do I convert a file to a PDF so that I can upload my ID to goSFU?

Check out our detailed instructions PDF on the right. All currently enroled SFU students are eligible to use Office 365 software available through IT Services. Software available in Office 365 allows documents to be "printed to PDF" using the print function. Apple Mac users can print to PDF without using any additional software.

We do not accept the new HEIC file format used by some Apple products. Please ensure your HEIC images are converted to PDFs before uploading.

Download instructions on how to submit your documents.

When I tried to upload my documents in goSFU, I received a "failed to upload" error message. What should I do?

Document uploads must be in PDF format. The maximum file size is 1MB. Any file with specifications other than these will fail to upload.

If you are experiencing issues, please contact reginfo@sfu.ca

Student Services