The acceptance rate of study permits for Indian students intending to study in Canada is expected to drop by about half this year, which might make it more difficult for them to get admitted.
Decline in approval of international students
This decline in approvals is the result of federal initiatives in Canada aimed at reducing the number of overseas students. According to The Globe and Mail, this information is based on an ApplyBoard report that will be made public on Tuesday.
The reports states that "approvals of study permits from India halved in the first half of this year." This could be a sign of things to come for the entire year.
According to the ApplyBoard report, there will be only little over 231,000 new study permits granted by the end of 2024, which is a significant decrease from the 436,000 allowed in 2023.
According to the estimate, there would be a 39% decrease in worldwide applications for study permits in Canada in 2024 as compared to 2023.
Of the 5.5 lakh international students studying in Canada in 2022, 2.26 lakh were from India; 3.2 lakh of these students were there on student visas and worked as gig workers to support the country's economy.
Many potential students have been deterred by the Canadian government's decision to raise the financial requirements for overseas students and by indications of tighter immigration restrictions, according to Meti Basiri, CEO and co-founder of ApplyBoard.
According to The Globe and Mail, Basiri stated that "Canada in recent months has not been seen as being as welcoming as it once was to international students," pointing out that students are now delaying their applications or choosing to study in the US, Germany, and France instead.
New financial standards
Immigration Minister Marc Miller implemented new financial standards in December 2023 for students applying for study visas. Rather than the previous minimum of 10,000 dollars, which had been in effect for 20 years, students now need to provide documentation of at least 20,635 dollars.
The goal of this policy adjustment was to balance the rising cost of living in Canada with reducing the number of international students.
Miller announced in January 2024 that it would be capping the number of foreign students admitted for the next two years. As a result, it is anticipated that the number of students admitted in 2024 will be 35% lower than in 2023.
According to IRCC spokesperson Jeffrey MacDonald, preliminary data indicates that the cap put in place in January is already having an impact on the number of study permits.
MacDonald said to The Globe and Mail, "early signs indicate that the cap announced on January 22, 2024, is impacting study-permit volumes."
Although applications and approvals had decreased dramatically in the first half of the year, he continued, it was too soon to determine the full effect of the cap because research permit processing is most active in the summer and early fall.
