OTTAWA- In response to an escalating housing crisis, Canada has recently announced a two-year cap on new international student visas.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller shared data indicating the approval of 364,000 new permits in 2024, a decision expected to have a significant impact on Indian students intending to pursue education in the country. The move comes as nearly 3.2 lakh Indians are already residing in Canada under existing student visas.
Canada International Student Visas Limit
Citing the need to maintain a sustainable level of temporary residence and curb the growth of international students in Canada, Miller stated, “To ensure that there is no further growth in the number of international students in Canada for 2024, we are setting a national application intake cap for two years from 2024,” as reported by Global News.
This year will see a 35% decrease in the issuance of new student visas, down from approximately 560,000 documents issued last year. The number of permits to be issued in 2025 will be reevaluated at the conclusion of 2024.
The measure is anticipated to have an impact on Indian students who consider Canada a preferred destination for higher education.
In 2022, over 800,000 international students received temporary study visas, with immigration data from various reports indicating that 40% of these students admitted to Canadian institutions were from India.
As of November 2023, Indian students accounted for approximately 2.15 lakh of the permits issued that year.
Provinces and territories will have the autonomy to determine the distribution of permits among universities and colleges in their respective areas.
However, Miller mentioned that the reduction could be as high as 50% for certain regions. Additionally, the federal government will now mandate international students applying for a permit to furnish an attestation letter from a province or territory.
This development is a response to Canada’s ongoing housing crisis and the mounting pressure on the federal government concerning the rising numbers of non-permanent residents entering the country.
A sharp Decline in Study Permits
The number of study permits granted by Canada to Indian students witnessed a significant decline in the latter part of last year. This drop was attributed to India expelling Canadian diplomats responsible for processing permits, coupled with a decrease in applications from Indian students due to a diplomatic dispute over the murder of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada, as revealed by a top Canadian official to Reuters.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller expressed skepticism about the swift recovery of study permit numbers for Indian students.
The diplomatic tensions escalated when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in June, implicated Indian government agents in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia.
Miller acknowledged that these tensions are likely to exert ongoing pressure on the numbers. He remarked, “Our relationship with India has really halved our ability to process a lot of applications from India.”
In October, Canada was compelled to withdraw 41 diplomats, equivalent to two-thirds of its staff, from India following orders from New Delhi. Additionally, the dispute has prompted Indian students to explore educational opportunities in other countries, according to a spokeswoman for the minister.
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