The Canadian Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s Minister, Marc Miller announced a cap on foreign students intake on 22nd Jan 2024 for the next two years.
Why was this cap announced?
The number of international students in Canada grew yearly and was getting out of hand as well. The number of students pursuing further studies in Canada was becoming overwhelming.
Furthermore, in recent years, many fraudulent immigration consultants have taken advantage of international students differently. All these reasons have led the immigration authorities of Canada to take measures that will further protect vulnerable students.
In the wake of protecting the integrity of the International Student Program and taking action against the bad actors who pose a threat to international students, such a measure was necessary.
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Canada announces cap on international students for next two years
This is a temporary measure that the IRCC Minister announced on 22 Jan 2024 for international students coming to Canada to study. However, not all categories of students will be affected by this temporary cap.
This means students pursuing master’s, doctoral, elementary, and secondary education will not be affected. Moreover, current study permit applications in the process or those who are in the process of renewing their permits will not be affected.
Marc Miller firmly stated that as of 22 Jan 2024, new study permit applications will also need an attestation letter from a province or territory in which they would be studying.
Provinces and territories need to come up with a process for issuing attestation letters by 31st March 2024.
Marc Miller announced this cap for 2024 which will result in about 360,000 approved study permits this year. This is approximately a decrease of 35% from the previous year.
Other Changes
In this announcement, Marc Miller announced that the Post Graduation Work Permit’s (PGWP) eligibility will be changed as well.
From 1st September 2024, those who want to apply to a study program included in the curriculum licensing arrangement won’t be eligible for the PGWP.
Curriculum licensing agreements are like a loophole to PGWP’s eligibility criteria since they attract international students to study on-site by attending a private school that has a license to teach an associated public school’s curriculum.
Foreign students who have graduated from either a master’s program or any other short graduate program may be eligible for a three-year work permit.
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