January 25th, 2024 at 03:41 am
Cap on International Student Permits in Canada! Spouse & Work Permits Update 2024
It is intolerable that several private universities have exploited foreign students by charging exorbitant tuition prices, operating on underfunded campuses with minimal student support, and substantially increasing their enrollment of overseas students. Canada has declared three main initiatives to stop this
1. A Temporary 2-Year Cap on New International Student Permits
This is the most recent in a line of actions intended to strengthen program integrity and position international students for success so they can continue to live temporarily in Canada at a sustainable level. To prevent future increases in the number of foreign students studying in Canada, Canada has established a two-year national application intake cap for 2024.
An estimated 364,000 study permits will be awarded as a result of the restriction, a 35% decrease from 2023. We are also distributing the cap space per province according to population for the sake of justice. In light of that, other provinces will experience substantially larger cutbacks.
We shall maintain close collaboration with those provinces and territories to implement these measures, as they will be in charge of allocating the cap among their designated learning institutions under their purview. I’ve already had fruitful talks with British Columbia and Ontario in particular, and we all agree that more work has to be done to support international students while maintaining the integrity of our system.
Additionally, applicants must submit a provincial attestation at the same time as their study permit application, beginning immediately. Students at graduate schools, such as those pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees, are exempt from the cap. Additionally exempt will be those seeking to apply for study permits at the primary and secondary school levels.
Public and private institution models will no longer be eligible to obtain Postgraduate Work Permits by September 1, 2024.
2. Open Work Permit Eligibility
We will be announcing in the upcoming weeks that spouses of overseas students enrolled in master’s and doctoral programs, as well as professional schools like law and medicine, will be the only ones eligible for open work permits.
The eligibility of spouses of international students enrolling in undergraduate and graduate programs will be discontinued. To be clear, neither study permit holders who are presently in Canada nor applicants wishing to extend their studies within the country will be impacted by the cap, as it would not be fair to prevent someone from completing the program.
After two years of these interim measures, new applications for study permits will be considered starting in 2025.
The Integrity of Canada Education System – IRCC
International students contribute significantly to the social, cultural, and economic fabric of Canada and enrich our communities. The integrity of the system for overseas students has been jeopardized in recent years. To boost income, several universities have dramatically boosted enrollment, which has increased to students entering Canada without the necessary resources to succeed.
The amount of foreign students entering Canada at a rapid rate is also placing strain on the country’s housing, healthcare, and other resources. The government is pushing forward with steps to stabilize the number of international students in Canada as we strive to better protect international students from bad actors and encourage sustainable population growth in Canada.
Summary of Latest Government Action to Reduce Student Migration
To stabilize fresh growth, the Canadian government has stated that it will curb the number of applications for international student permits for two years beginning in 2024, according to Mark Miller, Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada.
An estimated 360,000 study permits will be awarded as a result of the restriction, a 35% decrease from 2023. Individual provincial and territorial caps have been established in the spirit of justice; these caps are weighted by population, meaning that the provinces with the highest rates of unsustainable growth in their populations of international students will face considerably more dramatic cuts.
Renewals of study permits won’t be affected. The cap does not apply to those seeking doctoral and master’s degrees, as well as those pursuing elementary and secondary education. Those who currently hold study permits won’t be impacted. A portion of the cap will be given by the IRCC to each province and territory, who will then divide it among their designated learning institutions to put the cap into effect.
Beginning on January 22, 2024, an attestation letter from a province or territory will be required for each study permit application that is submitted to the IRCC. By March 31, 2024, at the latest, provinces and territories must set up a procedure for providing attestation letters to students.
Further Details
The number of new study permit applications that will be approved in 2025 will be reevaluated after this year, and these interim measures will be in effect for two years. The Canadian government will keep collaborating with designated learning institutions, national education stakeholders, and provinces and territories to create a sustainable future for international students during this time.
This includes completing the framework for recognized institutions, figuring out how many international students can be sustained over the long term, and making sure that postsecondary institutions can accommodate a sufficient number of students in housing.
Summary Section II
We are modifying the eligibility requirements for the Post-Graduation Work Permit program to better align it. International students enrolled in study programs under a Curriculum Licensing Arrangement will no longer be qualified for a post-graduation work permit when they graduate, effective September 1, 2024.
Students physically attend a private college that has been granted a license to teach the curriculum of an Associated public college under the terms of curriculum licensing agreements. Although these schools have less monitoring than public universities and serve as a loophole for eligibility for work permits after graduation, they have experienced a considerable increase in the number of international students enrolled in them in recent years.
Under the present requirements, graduates of master’s degrees and other short graduate-level studies will soon be qualified to apply for a three-year work permit. Because a post-graduation work permit’s duration is exclusively determined by the length of a person’s education program, it makes it more difficult for master’s degree candidates to obtain job experience and maybe become permanent citizens.
Open work permits will only be granted in the coming weeks to spouses of foreign students enrolled in master’s and doctoral degrees. Spouses of overseas students and those enrolled in undergraduate and graduate programs at other levels of education will no longer be eligible
The significant actions are in line with other recently disclosed changes to the international student program. When combined, they seek to stabilize the total number of students entering Canada and relieve pressure on housing, healthcare, and other services while also ensuring that genuine students have the resources and support they need for a fulfilling academic experience.