Canada Cuts International Student Permits, Tightens Work Regulations

On September 18, Canada unveiled plans to considerably reduce the number of international student permits for the upcoming year and impose stricter regulations on foreign workers to control the increasing temporary resident population.

This decision comes in response to concerns from the Trudeau administration regarding the impact of high immigration levels on housing, employment opportunities, and social services, especially after the population exceeded 41 million earlier this year.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller emphasised, “Coming to Canada is a privilege, not a right.”

The government aims to issue 4,37,000 study permits in 2025, a notable decrease from 485,000 this year and over 500,000 in 2023.

Furthermore, new regulations will affect work permits for the spouses of specific international students and foreign workers.

To tackle the rise in fraudulent or denied asylum claims, the government will strengthen the visa approval process.

Ottawa seeks to lower the percentage of temporary residents from 6.8% of the population (as of April) to 5%.

Significant changes will require master's and doctoral students to obtain a Provincial Attestation Letter (PAL), which was previously only necessary for college and undergraduate students.

The immigration department plans to reserve about 12% of available spaces for these advanced-degree candidates.

Adjustments to the Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) program will introduce new language proficiency requirements: university graduates will need a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) score of 7, while college graduates must achieve a CLB of 5 for applications submitted after November 1.

Miller anticipates that these modifications will lead to a reduction of 175,000 PGWPs issued over the next three years.

The government will also limit work permit eligibility for spouses of international students, permitting only the spouses of master's degree students enrolled in programs lasting at least 16 months to qualify, which could result in 50,000 fewer spousal work permits over the next three years.