A 35% decrease in the number of applications for study permits for overseas students is anticipated this year compared to 2023, as Canada has declared it will impose an intake cap on the number of applications approved.
Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship, Marc Miller, made this announcement on Monday. He stated that the 2025 quota will be reevaluated at the end of this year, and the “temporary” cap will be in force for two years.
“For 2024, the cap is expected to result in approximately 360,000 approved study permits, a decrease of 35% from 2023,” Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) stated on Monday.
“It’s unacceptable that some private institutions have taken advantage of international students by operating under-resourced campuses, lacking supports for students and charging high tuition fees all the while significantly increasing their intake of international students,” he stated during a press meet said in Montreal.
IRCC added, “Some institutions have significantly increased their intakes to drive revenues, and more students have been arriving in Canada without the proper support they need to succeed. Rapid increases in the number of international students arriving in Canada also put pressure on housing, health care and other services.”
The majority of the national cohort of students holding these study permits are Indian students. They made up 215,190, or 37%, of the 579,075 permits issued up till November 2023. Over the previous five years, the numbers have increased significantly.
“These programmes have seen significant growth in attracting international students in recent years, though they have less oversight than public colleges and they act as a loophole with regards to post-graduation work permit eligibility,” IRCC averred.
It also happened shortly after Canada announced that, for the first time ever, 1,028,850 people were in the nation on study permits in 2023.
Additionally, it declared that international students attending private universities run under a curriculum licensing regime would not be granted post-graduate work visas.
It also happened shortly after Canada announced that, for the first time ever, 1,028,850 people were in the nation on study permits in 2023.
“Today, we are announcing additional measures to protect a system that has become so lucrative that it has opened a path for its abuse. Enough is enough. Through the decisive measures announced today, we are striking the right balance for Canada and ensuring the integrity of our immigration system while setting students up for the success they hope for,” Miller concluded.
