New Cap On International Students Canada 2024

Last Updated On 5 February 2024, 10:04 AM EST (Toronto Time)

Cap on International Students Canada: Today, the Canadian government announced that it will establish an intake cap on international student visa applications for the next two years in order to moderate new growth.

Previously, on January 1, 2024, the cost-of-living requirement for study visa applicants was revised to better represent the genuine cost of living in Canada and to help minimize student vulnerability and exploitation.

The cap is slated to provide about 360,000 authorized study permits in 2024, a 35% drop from 2023.

Canada also intends to keep working in the upcoming months to give students with in-demand talents clear routes to permanent residency and investigate fresh approaches to help international students more smoothly enter the workforce.

Fairness-driven weighted population-based caps on specific provinces and territories will cause substantially larger reductions in the provinces with the highest rates of unsustainable increases in the population of overseas students.

Renewals of study permits won’t be affected.

The cap does not apply to those seeking master’s and doctorate degrees, as well as those studying elementary and secondary education.

Those who currently hold study permits won’t be impacted.

The IRCC will distribute a portion of the cap to each province and territory, which will then divide it among the approved educational institutions.

Beginning on January 22, 2024, each study permit application filed with the IRCC will additionally need to include an attestation letter from a province or territory in order to impose the cap.

By March 31, 2024, at the latest, provinces and territories must set up a procedure for providing attestation letters to students.

The number of new study permit applications that will be approved in 2025 will be reevaluated at the conclusion of this year, following the two-year temporary measure.

During this time, the Canadian government will keep working with designated learning institutions, national education stakeholders, and provinces and territories to create a sustainable future for international students.

Cap on international Students Canada 2024 Official Announcement

This includes completing the framework for recognized institutions, figuring out how many international students can be sustained over the long term, and making sure that post-secondary institutions can house enough students.

The Post-Graduation Work Permit Program’s eligibility requirements are being adjusted in order to better align them.

International students who enroll in a study program that is a part of a curriculum licensing arrangement will no longer be qualified for a post-graduation work permit once they graduate, effective September 1, 2024.

Students physically attend a private college that has been granted a license to teach the curriculum of a related public college under the terms of curriculum licensing agreements.

The number of overseas students enrolling in these programs has increased significantly in recent years, despite the fact that they are subject to less regulation than public universities and can be used as a loophole to obtain a work permit after graduation.

It will soon be possible for graduates of master’s and other short graduate-level programs to apply for a three-year work permit.

The existing regulations restrict master’s graduates’ ability to obtain work experience and maybe make the transition to permanent residency by basing a post-graduation work permit’s duration only on the duration of the individual’s studies program.

In the coming weeks, spouses of foreign students enrolled in master’s and doctoral programs will be the only ones eligible for open work visas.

Spouses of foreign students enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs at other levels of education will no longer be qualified.

Today, we announced that the Government of Canada will set an intake cap on international student permit applications to stabilize growth, for a period of two years. Details: https://t.co/3j30asJC3i

For 2024, the cap is expected to result in approximately 360,000 approved study… pic.twitter.com/wAJCAnB9UW
— IRCC (@CitImmCanada) January 22, 2024

What does the cap on international students mean?

The cap on international students means that Canada will accept around 360,000 foreign students annually in 2024 and 2025.

Kamal Deep Singh, RCIC

Kamal Deep Singh, RCIC (Regulated Canadian Immigration Consultant) licensed by CICC (formerly known as ICCRC) with member number R708618. He brings extensive knowledge of immigration law and new changes to rapidly evolving IRCC.