Canada’s Govt announces a 2-year cap on Students Visas

The Federal Government of Canada has announced a new 2-year cap on the number of International students to be granted Visas over the next two years.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister, Marc Miller announced during a news conference on Monday in Montreal, where the Trudeau cabinet is holding a three-day retreat.

The new immigration policy is part if a series of measures intended to address the overheated housing market in Canada, caused in part by soaring numbers of International students. The cap however, is temporary and will be reassessed after two years.

A statement from the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said that for the new year 2024, the cap is “expected to result in approximately 360,000 approved study permits, a decrease of 35% from 2023.”

IRCC also introduced caps for each province and territory, stating that the caps will be weighted by population, and will result in significant decreases for provinces where the international student population has seen the most unsustainable growth.

While IRCC promised to reassess the cap in 2025, it also mandated provinces to institute processes to enforce the new quotas. The statement read in part:

“As of today, January 22,  2024, every study permit application submitted to IRCC will also require an attestation letter from a province or territory (PT). PTs are expected to establish a process for issuing these letters no later than March 31, 2024.”

The changes announced on Monday came after Miller earlier announced measures targeted at capping visas in provinces that do not help house students or who do not shut down educational institutions that he believes should not be operating.

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