Canada’s latest data should put to rest any doubts over slowing international student demand. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) data shows new study permit applications fell sharply in January. Policymakers planned to throttle applications with caps, but the drop has been multiples of the planned reduction.
Canada Saw A 46% Drop In Study Permit Applications In January
Total new study permit applications received by the Government of Canada (GoC) IRCC. For the month of January.
Source: IRCC; Better Dwelling.
New study permit applications processed by the IRCC have taken a sharp nosedive. The agency reported 29.3k applications in January, down 46% from last year. It was the lowest volume reported for the month since 2021, when physical restrictions prevented people from coming to Canada.
International Student Applications Fall, But Remain Lofty
The trend extends a decline that began last year. There were 580.2k new applications in all of 2024, down 33% (-280.6k) from 2023. It’s still a massive amount of applications, but it also happens to be the lowest since 2021. Even though the volume remained high, it’s falling much faster than most anticipated.
International Student Applications Falling Faster Than Planned
The reason behind the falling volumes is partially policy, and partially an eroding global economy. After scaling up immigration, and failing to manage the growth, policymakers have begun to engage in throttling population growth—primarily by reducing temporary residency visas such as study permits.
However, there’s a little more to this reduction. Policymakers are shooting for a 10% reduction in study permits this year, and kicked the year off with a 46% drop. That’s nearly 5x the planned decline, and there was evidence the volume had been tapering before policymakers announced lower caps.
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