Canadian Visa Expert could confirm that the federal government of Canada is set to cap the number of study permits it approves over the next two years. The reason for this temporary cap is to be able to handle the ballooning international student program.
Marc Miller, the Canadian Immigration Minister, recently announced the new limits on international student study permits will ensure that the number of new student visas will be reduced by 35 percent in 2024.
More about the international student program
The international student program represents the processes that foreign nationals who desire to study at a Canadian institution usually go through. According to Canadian Visa Expert, these intended students need to obtain a study permit from the federal government.
Prospective students need to submit a letter of acceptance, personal documentation, and proof of financial support for them to apply and be considered.
More so, provinces and territories are responsible for choosing which institutions are eligible to enroll international students.
Changes to the foreign student program
Canadian Visa Expert reports that Canada’s government is reducing the number of new visas from nearly 560,000 to 364,000. This is about a 35 percent decrease from the number of student visas (study permits) granted last year.
The Immigration Minister also emphasized that the number of student visas approved for 2025 will be set after an assessment of the situation later in 2024.
It is also noteworthy that the temporary visa cap will only apply to post-secondary undergraduate students and not to students interested in pursuing visas for master’s programs, doctoral degrees, or elementary and high school students.
Canadian Visa Expert could also confirm that the government would make open work permits only available for spouses of students enrolled in master’s, doctoral, and other professional programs, such as medicine and law.