Marc Miller, Canadian Minister for Immigration, on Monday, announced that the federal government would be limiting the amount of study permits they give out in 2024, to ensure there is no further growth in the number of international students. These new regulations are a follow-up to the changes made in December last year; wherein the government announced an increase of income requirements to $20,635 from the $10,000 which was in place for almost two decades.
Miller stated, “We are setting a national application intake cap for two years. For 2024, the cap is expected to result in approximately 364,000 approved study permits, a decrease of 35% from 2023.” Additionally, applicants must also provide provincial attestation with their study permit application. This cap will not apply to graduate students and applicants for elementary and secondary-level education.
Provinces and territories in the country will be allocated a certain amount of permits, according to their populations. The territories and provinces would then be free to allocate the number of applicants provided to different institutions within them, concerning which they will be conducting talks with the government.
These changes come in light of the recent housing problems Canada faces, with rents skyrocketing across the country and students being unable to sustain themselves. These changes hope to provide some relief in the prices, by reducing the demand. How effective will it actually be is something which we can only speculate at this point.
Another issue the Canadian government wishes to address with this measure is the problem of private institutions and their exploitation of international students. Previously Miller has referred to these institutions being “the diploma equivalent of a puppy mill.” Miller remarked, “It is unacceptable that some private institutions have taken advantage of students by operating under-resourced campuses, lacking support for students and charging high tuition fees; all the while significantly increasing their intake of international students.”
Additionally, starting from the first of September, 2024, institutions operating within the private-public work model will no longer have access to post-graduate work permits. Lastly, open work permits will only be available to spouses of masters and doctoral courses, as well as professional courses. Spouses of students in other courses will not be able to apply.
The opposition has reverted to these changes being made only to cover up for the incompetence of the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, who has been under fire recently and is being held responsible for contributing to the housing and price crises in the nation.
