How many study permits would Canada issue in 2024? Here’s official response

TORONTO – The government of Canada has finalized the number of study permits which would be made available to the international students in the ongoing year.

Canadian Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship revealed on Friday, the details about the cap on study permits and how they would affect different sectors and provinces.

Marc Miller highlighted that the national cap is based on the amount of expiring study permits in 2024, suggesting that the number of international students arriving in Canada in the ongoing year should match the number of students whose permits expire this year.

In 2024, the government aims to approve 485,000 study permits as the immigration minister noted that approximately 20% of students seek extensions annually and stay in the country. To accommodate this, the government deducted 97,000 from the target, setting aside a margin for other potential fluctuations. Consequently, the revised goal for approved study permits in 2024 is now 364,000.

‘Accordingly, based on the national approval rate of 60% for study permit applications, the target of 364,000 approved study permits translates into a cap of 606,000 study permit applications received for 2024,’ the minister detailed.

The minister said some international students are exempt from the cap, such as primary and secondary school students and master’s or doctoral degree students, adding that the government has deducted the estimated volume of exempted groups (140,000 based on 2023 data) from the 2024 target number of approved study permits.

‘This resulted in a target of 236,000 approved study permits for 2024, which converts to roughly 393,000 study permit applications to be allocated,’ immigration minister confirmed.

Provincial, Territorial Allocations

Regarding the provincial and territorial allocations, the Canadian government has announced that the government distributed the adjusted number of study permit applications i.e. 393,000 on the basis of the population share of each province and territory.

Canada has announced that some provinces and territories would receive more students in 2024 than in 2023, while others would see fewer new students.

‘For provinces that would receive more international students in 2024 than in 2023 based on population share, we adjusted their allocation to limit growth to 10% compared to 2023,’ Miller noted.

The immigration minister also elaborated that for provinces that would receive fewer international students in 2024 than in 2023, their allocation has been adjusted to reduce the negative impact in the first year and support broader regional immigration goals.

‘IRCC also topped up allocations for provinces whose approval rate was lower than 60%. The top­-ups will help provinces with lower approval rates reach their expected number of approved study permits in 2024,’ read a statement issued by the minister.

It has also been announced that consequently, a total of about 552,000 study permit applications have been allocated to provinces and territories in line with the national cap.

‘These allocations are expected to yield approximately 292,000 approved study permits, representing a 28% reduction from 2023 for the groups included under the cap,’ highlighted Marc Miller.

It’s worth noting that in January this year, the government announced a 35 percent reduction in the entry of international students compared to 2023 which had prompted concorns amongst the students. The governments of United Kingdom and Australia have also introduced measures aimed at discouraging the entry of international students.