Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada reduced new study permits to control growth but faced challenges improving program integrity.
The federal government implemented reforms to the International Student Program by limiting study permit applications starting January 2024, successfully reducing new permits issued. However, approval rates were lower than projected, especially impacting smaller provinces. While a new tool to verify school acceptance letters was introduced, weaknesses remain in addressing study permit non-compliance and immigration fraud. The department approved fewer than half the forecasted permits in 2024 and continued low approvals into 2025. Investigations into non-compliance are limited by funding and many flagged cases remain unresolved.
- Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada reduced the number of new study permits issued to control growth of the International Student Program.
- The reduction disproportionately affected smaller provinces such as Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, which saw decreases of 59% or more in approvals in 2024 compared to 2023.
- A new letter-of-acceptance verification system was implemented, successfully verifying 97% of over 841,000 letters between December 2023 and September 2025.
- Despite identifying over 153,000 potentially non-compliant students in 2023-2024, the department had funding to investigate only about 2,000 cases annually.
- In 2023 and 2024, 4,057 investigations were launched, with about 40% remaining open due to non-response from students.
- 800 study permits issued between 2018 and 2023 were found to involve fraudulent documentation or misrepresentation; most of these individuals later applied for other immigration permits.
- The department does not know why approval rates were lower than projected and has been recommended to tailor study permit allocations by province and strengthen controls on extensions and fraud response.
- Implementation of limits on study permit applications starting January 2024 to control program growth
- Introduction of a letter-of-acceptance verification tool to authenticate school acceptance letters
- Commitment to strengthen integrity controls, though gaps remain in responding to non-compliance and fraud
- Recommendations to tailor provincial allocations and improve risk assessments for study permit extensions
- International students applying for study permits in Canada
- Smaller provinces including Manitoba, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick
- Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada as the administering body
- Applicants must provide a letter of acceptance from a designated learning institution, proof of financial support, provincial attestation letter, and valid travel and identity documents including biometrics
- Applications are assessed for document authenticity, immigration admissibility, and program eligibility
- January 2024: Federal government announced limits on study permit applications
- December 2023 to September 2025: Letter-of-acceptance verification system operational
- 2024 and 2025: Period of reduced study permit approvals