“The international student cap is here to stay” according to Canada’s Immigration Minister, Marc Miller.
Specifically, Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will issue just 437,000 study permits in 2025. According to the department, this number is based on a 10% reduction from the 2024 target of 485,000 new study permits issued, and then stabilizing the intake cap for 2026.
IRCC expects this to result in 300,000 fewer study permits being issued to international students over the next few years.
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This is just one of several announcements the minister made regarding ongoing changes to Canada’s international student program.
“The reality is that not everyone who wants to come to Canada will be able to—just like not everyone who wants to stay in Canada will be able to,” said Miller.
“Our immigration system must preserve its integrity and be well-managed and sustainable. And as we look forward, we will do everything it takes to achieve that goal and set newcomers up for success.”
Master’s and PhD students now require a Provincial Attestation Letter
The updated cap will now include master’s and doctoral students, who will no longer be exempt from obtaining a Provincial Attestation Letter (PAL).
The department says it will be reserving approximately 12% of allocation spaces for these students “in recognition of the benefits they bring to the Canadian labour market.”
PALs were introduced earlier this year for many college and undergraduate students to help IRCC verify that their applications are genuine and stabilize the number of study permits issued.
Changes to PGWP eligibility
Additionally, more changes have been made to eligibility requirements for a Post Graduation Work Permit (PGWP). Applicants will now be required to demonstrate a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) score of 7 for university graduates and a CLB of 5 for college graduates who apply after November 1.
Miller says he expects this will result in 175,000 fewer PGWPs being issued over the next three years.
Limits for Spousal Open Work Permits
IRCC is also limiting work permit eligibility, later this year, to spouses of master’s degree students whose program is at least 16 months in duration. This is expected to result in 50,000 fewer spousal work permits being issued over the next three years.
Unrelated to the international student program, Spousal Open Work Permits will also be limited to the spouses of Canadians or permanent residents who are employed in critical work sectors.
Impact on Temporary Foreign Worker Program
Canada’s unemployment rate has been climbing since April 2023, rising 1.5 percentage points over that period. Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) says the overall unemployment rate has risen from 6.4% to 6.6%. In August 2024, there were 1.5 million unemployed people, an increase of 60,000 (+4.3%) from the previous month.
The measures announced today aim to curb the volume of temporary residents in Canada on work permits in the near future.
Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages, Randy Boissonnault spoke alongside Minister Miller and echoed many of his earlier remarks surrounding the intent of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP). He said the TFWP should be a last resort measure and should never be used to replace Canadian workers or suppress their wages.
Still, Minister Boissonnault noted that 99% of economic growth in Canada is dependent on immigration. This is expected to rise to 100% by 2032.
Changes to temporary and permanent resident levels in Canada
This year has seen considerable overhauls of Canada’s immigration system, with multiple measures introduced.
In January IRCC put in place the first-ever cap on study permits, initially implemented as a temporary policy that would be in place until the end of 2025. As part of this cap, each provincial government was issued study permit allocations for their province. The implementation of this new cap also ushered in the PAL system.
The announcement of the study permit cap was coupled with further restrictions on PGWP eligibility (making students in college programs with “curriculum licensing agreements” ineligible); as well as a new restriction on Spousal Work Permits to only spouses of students in master’s and PhD programs (with some exceptions).
In March Minister Miller also announced that the Immigration Levels Plan for 2025-2027 will include temporary resident levels for the first time as the department seeks to reduce the number of temporary residents (those on a study or work permit).
Canada has taken other steps to reduce the number of temporary residents, including:
- Ending the COVID-era policy allowing some visitors to apply for a job-supported work permit from inside Canada;
- Pausing the processing of Labour Market Impact Assessments (LMIAs) in the low-wage stream of the TFWP, for jobs in Canada that are destined for Census Metropolitan Areas (CMAs) with an unemployment rate equal to or higher than 6%; and
- Considering drastic changes to the issuance of Post-Graduation Work Permits (PGWP) to international graduates, tying the issuance of these work permits to educational programs that would enable graduates to work within in-demand sectors of the Canadian economy.
Minister Miller has previously stated that he is also open to looking at options to address permanent immigration levels to Canada. The Minister noted that though it would be important not to “overcorrect” permanent immigration levels, the changes he was considering would be “significant” and not simply “cosmetic”. More information is expected on this front in the coming weeks
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