Canada Updates Rules: Foreign Enrollment Cap & Post-Study Work Changes Impact Indian Students
Canadian Immigration Minister Mark Miller announced several new measures affecting international students in Canada today. He stated, “The steps we have taken so far have been working.”
To achieve the government’s goal of reducing the number of temporary residents from 6.5% to 5% of Canada’s total population by 2026, additional steps are required. Mr. Miller said, “When you look at the growth of temporary residents in Canada, it has been increasing rapidly in recent years.”
A press release noted, “The reality is that not everyone who wants to come to Canada will be able to—just as not everyone who wants to stay in Canada will be able to. We are taking steps to strengthen our temporary residence programs and provide a more comprehensive immigration plan to meet the demands of today’s changing landscape. Our immigration system must maintain its integrity and be well-managed and sustainable; we will do everything necessary to achieve that goal and set newcomers up for success.”
Updates from the Canadian Government
Canadian Immigration Minister Mark Miller announced today several new measures affecting international students. The new settings include an extension of the current foreign enrollment cap until 2025 and 2026. The cap will be kept 10% below the 2024 levels over these two years.
The cap now includes master’s and doctoral students for 2025 and beyond, whereas students with advanced degrees were previously exempt from the cap. Degree graduates will be eligible for up to three years of Post-Graduate Work Permits (PGWP). International students approved for study permits after October 1, 2024—if they have graduated from college programs—will not be eligible for PGWP unless their program is linked to a high-demand labor market area.
Spousal work permit eligibility will also be more limited. By the end of this year, only spouses of master’s degree students whose programs are at least 16 months long will be eligible for spousal permits.
As part of changes to the PGWP program, all applicants will need to demonstrate minimum language proficiency in French or English. The new policies effective from January 2024 are based on existing policies. These include a new national limit on study permits for 2024, which the government estimates will reduce the number of new permits issued this year by 35% compared to 2023.
Other policies effective from January 2024 include removing work permits for spouses of students in programs other than graduate or professional programs, and removing PGWP eligibility for graduates of public-private colleges in Ontario. From January, students will also be required to provide a Provincial Attestation Letter (PAL) with their study permit application to ensure they are admitted to a valid program and institution, and that the number of study spots allocated by institutions adheres to cap-based limits.
The original policies aimed to address rising public discontent related to affordable housing and healthcare capacity, which some link to the increasing number of temporary migrants needing housing in Canada. This issue is weakening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s and his Liberal party’s approval ratings as the federal election approaches in 2025.
