Canada's international student decline deepens amid policy fallout

Data shared with international education website ICEF Monitor by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) shows that the total number of new study permits issued in 2024 was 267,890, a 48% decrease from 2023 levels and nearly 100,000 fewer than the 360,000 target set under federal caps introduced early last year.

In January 2024, IRCC implemented a two-year cap on new study permits for international students, aiming to reduce new approvals by 35% compared to 2023. This set a target of approximately 364,000 new study permit approvals for 2024, excluding renewals or extensions.

Canada hosted about 997,820 international students by the end of 2024, marking a 4% decline from the previous year's record of 1.04 million.

Critics argue the policy shift has had unintended consequences.

"IRCC's data confirms what we've been saying for a long time: the study permit cap has gone too far, too fast – shutting out students and destabilizing Canada's Official Languages education sector," Languages Canada executive director, Gonzalo Peralta, told The PIE News.

An earlier forecast by ApplyBoard, a Canadian educational technology company, predicted a 45% decline in permit approvals, closely matching the actual figures.

"The decline in applications and study permit approvals in 2024 put us below the cap set by IRCC. Early figures from the first quarter of 2025 indicate that these trends are worsening," Larissa Bezo, president of the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE), told The PIE News.

According to CBIE's analysis of IRCC data, the approval rate for Indian students dropped to 28% in January 2025, down from 81% the previous year. Of Canada's nine top source countries, only Bangladesh showed a slight improvement, from 18% in 2024 to 22% in 2025. Algeria and Ghana recorded the lowest approval rates, at 6% and 5%, respectively.

Falling application rates also suggest declining interest in Canada as a study destination, with applications down 35% between 2023 and 2024.

Policy uncertainties around post-graduate work permits, dependents, and master's students are believed to be major contributing factors.

Since late 2023, Canada has introduced several new measures for international students. In early December 2023, IRCC announced that study permit applicants submitting applications on or after Jan. 1, 2024, must demonstrate CA$20,635 (US$15,017) in available funds, double the previous threshold of CA$10,000.