Canada revealed plans on September 18 to substantially reduce international student permits for the coming year and implement stricter regulations for foreign workers. The move is part of a broader strategy to manage the country’s rapidly growing temporary resident population, as per AFP.

“We’re 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,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau posted on X.

The announcement follows several recent measures aimed at controlling Canada‘s record-high immigration levels, which have contributed to pushing the nation’s population beyond 41 million earlier this year. The government, led by Trudeau, has cited concerns about the impact of high immigration on housing availability, employment, and social services.

“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.

During a news conference, Immigration Minister Marc Miller emphasised, “It is a privilege to come to Canada. It is not a right,” as quoted by AFP.

The government plans to issue 437,000 study permits to international students in 2025, a significant decrease from 485,000 this year and over 500,000 in 2023. Additionally, new restrictions will be placed on work permits for spouses of certain international students and foreign workers.

To address a rise in fraudulent or rejected asylum claims, the government will also enhance scrutiny in the travel visa issuance process. Ottawa has previously stated its intention to reduce the proportion of temporary residents from 6.8% of the population (as of April) to 5%.

What will be the impact?

According to a report by CIC News, master’s and doctoral students will now be required to obtain a Provincial Attestation Letter (PAL), a requirement previously limited to college and undergraduate students. The immigration department has stated it will reserve approximately 12% of allocation spaces for these advanced degree students.

The CIC News report also details changes to the Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) program, including new language proficiency requirements. University graduates will need to demonstrate a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) score of 7, while college graduates must achieve a CLB of 5 for applications submitted after November 1.

According to the report, Immigration Minister Miller anticipates these changes to lead to a reduction of 175,000 PGWPs issued over the next three years.

The government is also limiting work permit eligibility for spouses of international students. Starting later this year, only spouses of master’s degree students in programs lasting at least 16 months will be eligible. According to the CIC News report, this is expected to result in 50,000 fewer spousal work permits over the next three years.