Canada to further limit number of int’l students

OTTAWA, Sept. 18 (Xinhua) — The Canadian federal government on Wednesday announced a further reduction of international students to manage the volume of temporary resident arrivals.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said in a news release that in 2025 new international student study permits will be reduced by 10 percent from the 2024 target of 485,000, which means reducing study permits issued to 437,000.
The number of study permits issued in 2026 will remain the same as 2025, the release said.
This announcement followed a previous measure back in January when the federal government said it would approve about 360,000 undergraduate study permits in 2024, a 35 percent reduction from the nearly 560,000 issued in 2023.
Canada’s population surpassed 41 million people in the first quarter of 2024 with a sharp rise in temporary residents. Earlier this year, IRCC announced a decrease in the number of temporary residents, from 6.5 percent of Canada’s total population down to 5 percent by 2026. ■