Federal government announces 2-year cap on student permits

With a stated goal of targeting institutional “bad actors” — and amid concern about the impact growing numbers of international students are having on the housing market — Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced Monday that the federal government will cap the number of student permits over the next two years.

The government says it will approve approximately 360,000 undergraduate study permits for 2024 — a 35 per cent reduction from 2023.

Each province and territory will be allotted a portion of the total, distributed according to population. The federal government says this will result in “much more significant decreases in provinces where the international student population has seen the most unsustainable growth.”

In some provinces, Miller said, the total reduction in permits will be approximately 50 per cent.

Provinces and territories will be left to decide how permits are distributed among universities and colleges in their jurisdictions. The cap will be in place for two years; the number of permits to be issued in 2025 will be reassessed at the end of this year.

Miller said that by imposing the cap, the federal government is taking action against some small private colleges.

“It’s unacceptable that some private institutions have taken advantage of international students by operating under-resourced campuses, lacking supports for students and charging high tuition fees all the while significantly increasing their intake of international students,” Miller said.

In an interview with the CBC’s Power & Politics on Monday, Miller spoke of “degree-granting institutions that are giving fake business degrees” to students who hope to stay in Canada. The minister said there could be “hundreds” of such schools operating in Canada and that the number has “exploded in the last couple years.”

In addition to the cap, the federal government will also require international students applying for a permit to provide an attestation letter from a province or territory. 

“To be absolutely clear, these measures are not against individual international students,” Miller said. “They are to ensure that as future students arrive in Canada, they receive the quality…