Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced an immediate 2-year cap on international student permits.

Canada has announced an immediate, two-year cap on international student permits. Starting September this year, the government will also stop providing work permits to international students who begin a study program that is part of a curriculum licensing arrangement.

These temporary measures will be in place for two years and the government will reassess the cap in 2025.

According to IRCC, the cap is expected to result in approximately 360,000 approved study permits in 2024, a decrease of 35% from 2023. Caps are introduced for each province and territory. IRCC says the caps will be weighted by population, which will result in much more significant decreases in provinces where the international student population has seen the most unsustainable growth. The caps will not impact study permit renewals and will not include those pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees, and elementary and secondary education.  Current study permit holders will not be affected.

Furthermore, IRCC also shared that open work permits will only be available to spouses of international students in master’s and doctoral programs. The spouses of international students in other levels of study, including undergraduate and college programs, will no longer be eligible.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller says, the main reason for the cap is to protect students who attend colleges, which are often private-public partnerships that provide inadequate services at high costs,  and also to ease pressure on housing and services.

Source: Canada.ca