No, you can apply for a visa with the school's admission notice and the professor's financial aid certificate. Poly is basically a French school, but the French requirement is not as high as that of Mengda University. When you first enter school, you should be able to understand some forms, give lectures in French, and demonstrate French in some classes. Doctoral thesis can be written in English, but the abstract (page 10) needs French version. But don't worry, many foreign students from China who can't speak French also graduated smoothly (ask the brothers). Montreal is a bilingual city in life, so it is not a big problem not to know French. Doctoral graduation depends on the tutor, usually 4-5 years.