Canadian Federal Government announces two-year cap on international student admissions and additional changes

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has announced that effective September 1, 2024, a temporary cap will be placed on new international student visas and admissions. The announcement comes in response to a record-breaking increase on temporary residents and rapid housing market price inflation in Canada.

The temporary two-year cap is aimed to have an overall 35 per cent reduction in new study visas across Canada. The federal government will assign a fixed number of study permits to each province based on population size, and each province will be responsible for allocating the designated quota amongst authorized schools.

Further, IRCC has announced that it will stop issuing postgraduate work permits to international students who graduate from programs provided under Public College-Private Partnerships. Only accompanying qualifying partners of international students who are studying in graduate schools or in a professional program will be entitled to open work permits.

Gowling WLG Immigration Group

Immigration legislation and practices continue to change frequently. We expect further details of the changes to the study permit program to be announced in the coming months.

Our Immigration Group would be pleased to help with any questions you may have about immigration into Canada or the U.S. To find out more about our group, reach out to a member of our team and subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates.