How Indian students are impacted | The Canada’s restrictions
Beginning with the upcoming academic year, the federal government of Canada has announced that it will be limiting the quantity of visas granted to foreign students for a two-year period. Less visas will make it harder for Indian students to pursue higher education in Canada.
How much is Canada reducing the quantity of visas it issues to foreign students?
The Canadian Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship, Marc Miller, declared on Monday that there will be a 35% reduction in the number of new international student permits issued starting September 1, 2024, compared to the 2023 period.
Miller stated in a discussion on his official X (Twitter) profile, “This is expected to result in approximately 360,000 approved study permits this year, and will be allocated to provinces and territories to distribute among their DLIs.”
He announced, “The current intake of study permit applications will be paused until March 31st as provinces implement their systems. Provinces must issue letters of attestation for the students they accept.”
The number of study permits for 2025 will be determined after an evaluation of the circumstances at the end of current year. According to Miller, the permit cap is temporary.
Ahead of a scheduled parliamentary session, Miller addressed a three-day retreat in Montreal for Liberal Party ministers. He also revealed modifications to the Post-Graduation Work Permit Program (PGWP), which permits foreign students to work in Canada following their academic pursuits.
“We will no longer issue PGWPs to students studying under curriculum licensing arrangements” (i.e., models of public-private institutions) as of September 2024, according to Miller.
Additionally, “we will no longer issue work permits to spouses of international students, with the exception of those in master’s and doctoral programs, in the coming weeks.” We’ll try to exempt people who are enrolled in professional programs like law and medicine.
Why has Canada implemented these measures to reduce the number of foreign students enrolling?
Miller was quoted in Canadian media as saying that in order to maintain “a sustainable level of temporary residence” in Canada, the number of overseas students admitted needs to be limited. According to the Minister on X, Canada has a duty to guarantee that foreign students “have access to the resources they need to succeed” in the nation.
The Canadian government said last month that, in order to be eligible for a study visa, international students would need to demonstrate that they have more than $20,000 in addition to their tuition expenses, which is double the current minimum.
Former Immigration Minister Sean Fraser told Canadian media that Miller’s announcements were necessary since student enrollment had increased “beyond what certain communities could handle.”
Miller added on X that “unscrupulous actors” had been “taking advantage of international students, rendering them vulnerable to abuse and exploitation.” According to him, the new policies will “ensure system integrity and sustainable growth.”
According to the Minister, “these programs are notorious for lacking oversight and do not provide the quality academic experience that Canada is renowned for,” which is why public-private universities were left out of the PGWP program.
The Indian Express was informed by Mandeep, the convener of the Montreal Youth Students Organization, that Canada is now experiencing a housing crisis. The cost of living and rentals have gone up significantly, but employment is scarce. Additionally, some students have expressed dissatisfaction about private schools’ excessive tuition costs and subpar educational programs.
Who precisely will these decisions affect? Will Indians be affected in any way?
Student permits have a two-year limit that only applies to undergraduate programs. Courses in the basic and secondary school levels, as well as master’s and doctoral degrees, are excluded.
The restrictions will only apply to new applicants; current international students enrolled in undergraduate or other courses in Canada will not be affected.
The visa cap will affect students from India. Data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) indicates that the majority of student visas are granted to applicants from Asia, with China and India coming in first and second, respectively.
Punjabi students often choose Canada as their study abroad location. Soon after starting their studies or landing a brief employment, spouses of students frequently join them on spouse visas. Spouses will only be eligible for open work permits under the new regulations if they are enrolled in graduate or doctoral programs.
The number of international students increased from over 3.26 lakh in 2014 to over 8 lakh in 2022, according to IRCC data. According to IRCC figures cited in The Globe and Mail last week, as of the end of December 2023, there were 1,028,850 holders of study permits worldwide, with over half of them residing in Ontario. An estimate of 1.4 million people held work permits
