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Canada News : The country has announced a very significant cut in the intake cap on international student study permits for 2025, which is bound to hit hundreds of Indian students who are eyeing Canada as a destination for their higher education. Millions may have their aspirations of academics and professionals reconfigured as the country is among the top destinations for India’s international student population.
Canada’s New Cap on Study Permits
The intake target for study permits from the Canadian government will decrease by 10% this coming 2025. This means that the planned number drops from the 485,000 intake that was set for 2024 to 437,000 for this year. In fact, last year, Canada broke its record to issue 500,000 study permits for the first time in the country. The 2026 cap is the same, at 437,000-an entry that should remain on this lower track for the foreseeable future. Significantly, this new policy stretches masters to doctoral students, making the two have additional requirements-an attestation letter from a provincial or territorial government-bettering the process with increased complexity.
This cut stands to dismally fall on Indian students. Indian students constitute close to 40% of Canada’s international students. Indian students have singularly been seen to spearhead growth in international enrolments in Canada over the last decade. Between 2013 and 2023, the number of Indian students crossing over to Canada mushroomed from 32,828 to 139,715, an incredible 326% rise, as a report by the National Foundation for American Policy said. Now, if we look at the larger time frame, from the negligible 2,181 Indian students in universities in Canada in the year 2000, enrollment spiked to 128,928 in 2021-a 5,800% spike in two decades.
Impacts on Indian students and Canadian higher education
This policy change is to be sure a foreboding barri¬er for Indian stu¬dents who already make up a signifi¬cant fraction of the inter¬na¬tional student popu¬la¬tion in Canada. The cur¬rent gov¬er¬nment in Indi¬a as recently es¬ti¬mated that there are around 13.35 lakh (1.3 mil¬lion) Indian stu¬dents abroad, with over 4.27 lakh (427,000) residi¬ng in Canada alone. These num¬bers show that Canada is already an impor¬tant send¬ing cen¬tre for Indi¬an stu¬dents look¬ing to study abroad.
It is on X that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau recently declared that the number of international study permits issued by the Canadian government has plunged 35% from last year and now promises another 10% cut for 2025. “This is not an attempt to deny people opportunity,” Prime Minister Trudeau urged; instead, “it’s an attempt to stop the bad actors from exploiting the system, to make sure the process remains transparent and fair for all students.”.
Another aspect of his remarks relates to immigration because he stated that immigration plays a critical role in the Canadian economy but something has to be done about the abuses within the system. He promised the implementation of stricter rules on foreign workers, especially in the TFW Program. The latter will undergo changes: restriction on issuing more than necessary temporary foreign workers in low-wage jobs; reduction of duration of low-waged foreign workers’ work; and encouragement of employers to hire Canadian workers.
International Education and Economic Effects in Canada
International students undoubtedly play an important role in the economy of Canada. The international education sector produces in excess of $22 billion in economic activity every and each year, in excess of that of auto parts, lumber, or even exports of aircraft into the global economy. More than 200,000 Canadian jobs are also supported by the sector. The major financial contribution made by international students underscores why these recent cuts may seem counter-intuitive.
For example, it was estimated that the loss in international students caused by the COVID-19 pandemic accounted for over $7 billion loss in Canada’s GDP, and it is an important reason for the struggle of international students in contributing towards sustained economic growth in areas such as education, housing, and employment services.
New Rules: PGWP Program Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program
Similarly, the Canadian government enforces a series of measures designed to control the increasing temporary residents population among others, which have recently updated the rules on Post-Graduation Work Permit Program (PGWP). The new PGWP policy is meant to bring the work permit aligned more closely with long-term immigration objectives and labor market needs in the present.
Post-Graduation Work Permit Program: As of later this year, work permits will be issued to spouses only if students are enrolled in graduate programs that have a duration of at least 16 months. Other new language benchmarks include requiring an NL upgrading benchmark for applicants for post-graduation work permits submitted after November 1, 2024. Under the new policy, all university graduates are required to have a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level of 7, while college graduates require CLB 5. In contrast, the new policy still allows program graduates at the public colleges to be eligible for a PGWP of up to three years, following completion of their program, if their field of study is related to any occupations that will face long-term shortages in Canada.
Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program: The Conservative government is toughening up the rules on the TFW Program that some say let employers bypass hiring Canadians by making low-wage work available to foreigners. New rules to include:
The government will deny processing Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) for employers in the Low-Wage stream in census metropolitan areas where the unemployment rate is at 6% or higher.
The Low-Wage stream of the TFW Program will restrict employers to hiring from the program up to 10% of their total workforce to start, or lesser than the March 2024 cap.
The work period of employment for workers hired through the Low-Wage stream will be reduced to one year from two years. This would limit stay periods of temporary workers in Canada even more.
These should concentrate on the advantageous treatment of workers from Canada in labor- shortage fields, while, at the same time, making entry into the country extremely difficult and tight for foreign workers.
The Future of International Students
The new policies of the Canadian government reflect a shift in its thinking with regard to immigration and temporary residency. International education will, no doubt continue to serve as a keystone in the country’s economic and cultural front; the reduced take caps and stringent regulations on work permits undoubtedly bring about obstacles for students, especially Indians.
Despite these challenges, Canada is still one of the most sought-after destinations for international students because of its high standard of education, diverse cultural environment, and job opportunities after graduation and immigration. Besides, students who wish to study in Canada have to be more strategic in preparation as more students bid for few study permits.
For Indian students who consider Canada, over time, their number one destination for higher education, changes in these policies might lead them to look elsewhere or consider other education options. For Australia, the United Kingdom, and perhaps the United States, Canadian policy changes will mean increased enrollment by Indian students.
But cuts in study permits may have deeper implications on both the landscape of international education and the thousands of students who had set their sights on Canada as a way out to a better future. How that shapes immigration and Canada’s status as a global education hub in years to come remains to be seen.