Canada News HIGHLIGHTS

✓Canada will establish a cap on the number of new study permits issued to international students.

The cap will be in effect for 2024 and 2025, and is described as a temporary measure.

Canadian immigration officials anticipate that the cap will result in a 35% reduction in the number of new study permits issued in 2024, compared to 2023 levels.

✓In addition to the cap, the government also announced today that as of 1 September 2024, students enrolled in programmes delivered via public-private partnerships will no longer be eligible for post-graduate work permits.

✓The government will also move to limit open work permits available to spouses of international students.

However, post-graduate work rights will be expanded for students completing graduate studies in Canada, with such students soon being able to apply for a three-year post-graduate work permit.

One province, British Columbia (BC), has publicly disclosed its proposed cap allocation, with Post-Secondary Education Minister Selina Robinson confirming on 29 January that the province has been told it will be able to accept 83,000 study permit applications for this year, which could result in 50,000 study permits issued under the cap based on current approval rates, not counting those that would be issued for K-12, master’s, and doctoral programmes (all of which are exempt from the cap process).

BC is home to roughly 14% of Canada’s population, so that allocation of 83,000 study permit applications would suggest a total national cap of just over 602,000 study permit applications.