Canada’s study visa approvals for Indian students to drop by 50% in 2024: Report

Indian students aspiring to study in Canada will be facing significant challenges as study permit approvals are expected to drop by nearly 50% this year.

This decline in approvals is a result of Canadian federal measures aimed at reducing the number of foreign students, with study visa approvals projected to return to levels last seen in 2018 and 2019. This information comes from a report by ApplyBoard, which is set to be published on Tuesday, as per The Globe and Mail.

“In the first half of this year, approvals of study permits from India halved,” according to the report. This might be an indicator what the full year might hold.

The ApplyBoard report, a company that connects international students with universities and colleges worldwide, forecasts that the number of new study permits granted by the end of 2024 will be just over 231,000, a stark contrast to the 436,000 approved in 2023.

The report projected a 39% decline in global applications for Canadian study permits in 2024 compared to 2023.

In 2022, 2.26 lakh of 5.5 lakh international students in Canada were from India, with 3.2 lakh Indians staying in Canada on student visas and contributing to the economy as gig workers.

Meti Basiri, CEO and co-founder of ApplyBoard, explained that the Canadian government’s decision to increase financial requirements for international students and hints of stricter immigration policies have discouraged many prospective students.

“Canada in recent months has not been seen as being as welcoming as it once was to international students,” Basiri was quoted as saying by The Globe and Mail, noting that students are now deferring their applications or opting for other destinations like the US, Germany, and France.

In December 2023, Immigration Minister Marc Miller introduced new financial requirements for students seeking study permits, requiring them to show proof of at least 20,635 dollars instead of the 10,000-dollar requirement that has been in place for two decades.

This policy change was designed to curb the rising number of international students and reflect the increasing cost of living in Canada. In January 2024, Miller announced a cap on the growth of international student numbers for the next two years, leading to a predicted 35% reduction in student intake in 2024 compared to 2023.

GOVERNMENT’S TARGET LIKELY TO FALL SHORT
The impact on Indian students, who make up a significant portion of Canada’s international student population, has been particularly severe. Study permit approvals for students from India were reduced by half in the first half of the year, according to The Globe and Mail.

The ApplyBoard’s report states that if current trends continue, the government’s target of approving 364,000 study permits in 2024, based on a cap of 606,000 applications, will fall short. Accounting for factors like the 20% of students who apply for extensions annually, resulting in 97,000 permits being subtracted from the target, the revised target stands at 364,000 approved study permits. The initial target was 485,000 new international students for 2024.

“This projected approval count is roughly 47 per cent lower than the 436,000 new study permits which were approved in 2023,” the report noted, according to The Globe and Mail.

POSTGRADUATE APPLICATIONS ALSO HIT
Additionally, applications for postgraduate programmes such as master’s and doctoral studies, which are not included in the government’s cap, also saw a notable decline. Between January and June 2024, only 114,000 study permits were approved — a 48% decrease compared to the same period last year.

The number of processed applications for the second quarter of 2024, from April to June, was also down by 54% from the previous year. IRCC spokesperson Jeffrey MacDonald confirmed that early indicators show the cap imposed in January is already affecting study permit volumes.

“Early signs indicate that the cap announced on January 22, 2024, is impacting study-permit volumes,” MacDonald was quoted by The Globe and Mail as saying.

He added that while approvals and applications had dropped significantly in the first half of the year, it was too soon to fully assess the cap’s overall impact, given that the busiest period for study permit processing occurs in the summer and early fall.