Study Permit Cap: Canada Tightens Immigration Rules for International Students – Key Changes You Need to Know
Now come the changes in the study permit cap, with Canada’s immigration minister, Marc Miller, mentioning a chain of new policies introduced toward international students. These are to be expected in order to help the government deal with the inflow of temporary residents and maintain the integrity of Canada’s immigration system. A few thousand international students from India and other countries, besides the potential applicants for the work permits who try their luck under the Post-Graduate Work Program and spousal work eligibility, will be directly affected by such measures. However, many believe that these measures are an overreaction to deal with irregular immigration into the country.
Canada takes a new policy in its admission limit for international students.
Another policy is that of capping admissions into Canada on the part of international students as a measure of managing ever-increasing temporary residents. According to the Minister, this cap will persist while the intake will be reduced by 10% in 2025 and should hit 437,000 student permits. Indian student intake stands to be affected since Indians are the majority holders of study permits given. The country issued 220,000 Indian student study permits up to 2022, which increased to 280,000 through 2023. The figure was 100,000 up to mid-2024.
The total count of temporary residents in Canada, which includes international students and workers, increased from 437,000 in 2019 to reach 1.2 million through 2023. The new immigration rules intend to lower the proportion of the population this number makes from 6.5% to 5% by 2025.
PGWP Changes and New Language Requirements
Probably the most dramatic change is this: the Post-Graduation Work Program will be’refreshed’ as of November 1, 2024. Of course, the new program would continue to permit immigration ministers to make permanent residents or Canadian citizens out of students with bachelor’s, master’s, and PhD degrees by extending PGWPs for a three-year period in Canada. However, international students who have completed certificate or diploma programs are only qualified to become eligible for obtaining a work permit if the field in which they are employed is in high demand by their respective province or territory.
Aside from this, a PGWP applicant must be able to show English or French language proficiency. This can be achieved by reaching the CLB 7 for a university graduate. For college graduates, it will be CLB level 5. The policy is expected to drop the number of issued PGWPs by 175,000 within the three years.
Spousal Work Permit Constriction
Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) will no longer provide open work permits to the spouses of the international students except those enrolled in master’s or PhD and some professional degrees starting April 2024. Starting this year, more restrictions are set to come into play in order to qualify for spousal work permits; that is, this is only going to apply to master’s degrees that are more than 16 months.
Conclusion
Immigration rules regarding international students are being tightened up by Canada. Those who want to come here for studies and employment must know about these new rules. New rules in respect to the limitation of study permits, changes in eligibility for PGWP, and restrictions on spousal work permit capabilities have changed the immigration map of Canada. All these developments would form essential knowledge on the part of the applicants to ensure proper selections for educational futures as well as professional careers in Canada.
