Highlights: Canada to welcome 485,000 International students this year
- Canada is set to issue 485,000 study permits this year and 437,000 in the coming year (2025) to international students.
- The government is focused on promoting temporary residence programs to facilitate more immigrants to the country.
- IRCC also announced plans to bring in changes to the PGWP program.
- The Canadian government also implemented several other changes for the betterment of international students.
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IRCC Announces major changes to several Canada work permit programs
The Canadian government aims to welcome 485,000 international students this year, focusing more on building up the temporary residence programs. IRCC and Ottawa plan on introducing several changes to the work permit programs:
Some of the major changes that to be implemented are as follows:
Changes announced by Ottawa:
- Ottawa will reduce the eligibility for work permits later this year. The changes are particularly for spouses of foreign workers in labor shortage sectors or professional or management-related occupations under the following programs.
- The changes will apply to those employed under work permit programs, including the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and the International Mobility Program (IMP).
- Spouses of students enrolled in a Master’s Degree program with at least 16 months of study will also have limitations on work permit eligibility.
Updates in the PGWP program:
- Applicants must show minimum language proficiency in French or English. University graduates must demonstrate CLB Level 7, and college graduates must demonstrate CLB Level 5.
- The changes will come into effect starting November 1, 2024.
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Other Changes Introduced by the Canadian Government
The list of other major changes introduced by the IRCC is as follows:
- Introducing the “Letter of Acceptance Verification system” to prevent students from sham
- Increased the fund requirements for study permit applications
- Restricted the eligibility for open work permits for spouses of those enrolled in the Francophone Minority Communities Student Pilot, or Masters, professional degree courses, or doctoral degree programs
- PGWP eliminated the eligibility for college program graduates enrolled via public-private curriculum licensing arrangements
- Plans to introduce new rules suggesting international students apply for a new permit or change schools for not having a letter of acceptance or incompletion of student compliance.
- Reduce the number of off-campus working hours so that international students can shift their focus more on their studies.
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