Canada cuts study permit by 10% for 2025, updates rules. Here’s how it’ll impact Indian students

Canada has announced a reduction in the intake cap on international student study permits for 2025, a move that will adversely impact Indian students who aspire to study there.

With this reduction, Canada has cut its study permit target by 10% from the 2024 goal of 485,000 down to 437,000 for the year 2025. In 2023, the number of study permits issued to international students reached a peak of 500,000.

The 2026 intake cap for study permits will be consistent with the 2025 cap, and the 2025–2026 study permit quota will include both master's and doctoral students, who are now required to provide a provincial or territorial attestation letter.

The reduction will significantly affect Indian students, who make up almost 40% of all international students in Canada. From 2013 to 2023, the number of Indians immigrating to Canada increased from 32,828 to 139,715, marking a 326% rise, according to the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP).

The enrolment of Indians at Canadian universities has also rose more than 5,800% in the last two decades, from 2,181 in 2000 to 1,28,928 in 2021.

There are about 13.35 lakh Indian students studying abroad of which about 4,27,000 are studying in Canada, shows recent data released by the Indian government.

In a post on X, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the Canada government is granting 35% fewer international student permits this year. And next year, “that number’s going down by another 10%”.

"Immigration is an advantage for our economy — but when bad actors abuse the system and take advantage of students, we crack down,” he wrote adding that stricter regulations will be implemented for foreign workers.

“We’re reducing the number of low-wage, temporary foreign workers and shortening the duration of their work terms. We adjusted the program after the pandemic, but the labour market’s changed. We need businesses to invest in Canadian workers,” Trudeau added.

Notably, international education accounts for over $22 billion in economic activity annually in Canada. This is greater than its exports of auto parts, lumber or aircraft, and supports more than 200,000 jobs in Canada.

The decline in international student numbers in 2020 led to a loss exceeding $7 billion in Canada's gross domestic product for the same year.

Additional measures Canada is taking to manage the volume of temporary residents:

• The Post-Graduation Work Permit Program is being updated to more closely align with immigration objectives and the demands of the labour market.
• From later this year, work permits will be available exclusively for spouses of students enrolled in master's degree programs of at least 16 months' duration.
• For anyone applying for a post-graduation work permit on or after 1 November 2024, a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level 7 for university graduates and CLB 5 for college graduates will be required.

• Graduates from programs at public colleges will remain eligible for a Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) of up to three years if they graduate from a field of study linked to occupations in long-term shortage.

Clauses under new Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) Program:

• Canadian government said it will refuse to process Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) in the Low-Wage stream, applicable in census metropolitan areas with an unemployment rate of 6% or higher.
• Employers will be allowed to hire no more than 10% of their total workforce through the TFW Program. This maximum employment percentage will be applied to the Low-Wage stream and is a further reduction from the March 2024 reduction.
• The maximum duration of employment for workers hired through the Low-Wage stream will be reduced from the current two years to one year.