College clampdown on track to halve student arrivals to Canada
BNN Bloomberg
Canada’s overhaul of its foreign student program is on track to halve the number of approved international study permits this year, according to an analysis by an education recruitment company.
If application numbers and approval rates seen in the first four months of this year remain constant throughout 2024, the number of approved study permits could drop to 229,000, ApplyBoard said in a report Wednesday, citing data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
That’s a 48 per cent drop from 436,678 permits approved last year.
It’s an early sign that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s cap on international student visas will drastically curb the explosive growth of temporary immigration, which had been a key driving force behind post-pandemic rapid population increases as well as worsening housing shortages.
