Fewer students are coming from abroad to study at Canadian universities this fall and enrolment at universities across the country has fallen below the cap set for this year by the federal government, Universities Canada says.
In January, the federal immigration minister announced the cap, presenting the measure as a way to stem the rapid increase in the number of international students.
The new policy limits the number of student visa applications the government will accept for processing. The change was expected to result in a 35% drop in the number of international students in 2024 compared to last year.
“The decline within universities will be much greater than that,” warned Gabriel Miller, president of Universities Canada. “It’s a major blow, a major national blow to university budgets and it’s unprecedented in living memory.”
Miller says the cap has created uncertainty for some potential students. He adds that the pause in visa processing at the Immigration Department while the government implemented the cap may have prompted some students to consider options other than Canadian universities.
“The most important comment we’ve heard is that there is real uncertainty and confusion about what opportunities will be available to students to come and study in Canada and what rules will apply,” he said.
Mr Miller said, however, that the full impact will only be known after universities return to class in September.
The federal Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship did not immediately respond to a request for comment and the minister was not available for an interview.
The temporary cap announced in January is expected to last two years and is intended to give federal and provincial governments time to ensure the sustainability and integrity of international student programs.
The government has also introduced new limits on work permits for students, their spouses and postgraduate students.
There have been several reports of fraud and bad actors taking advantage of international students, in some cases offering questionable education to take advantage of their higher tuition fees.
In January, Immigration Minister Marc Miller admitted that while they had given it a lot of thought, the cap was a brutal move by the federal government.
“This is something we have to get a handle on,” he said at the time.
During the first half of this year, 244,895 new study permits came into effect, according to data released by the Ministry of Immigration.
This represents a 2.6% increase in the number of new student visas compared to the first half of 2023. The number of study permits issued from July 2024 is not yet available.