Canada admitted fewer than one-third of its annual target for international students during the first eight months of 2025.
From January through August 2025, the federal government issued just 89,430 new study permits—only 29% of its annual goal of 305,900.
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To reach its 2025 admissions target, Ottawa would need to issue an additional 216,470 study permits between September and December—a highly ambitious task given that January through August accounted for 75.69% of total admissions in 2024.
Impact of Policy Changes
The slowdown reflects a series of government measures introduced in 2024 to scale back the international student program. These changes are part of a broader effort to ease pressure on housing and social services and to reduce the share of temporary residents to below 5% of Canada’s population by the end of 2026.
Between January and August 2025, international student admissions fell by 70%, with 132,505 fewer study permits issued compared to the same period in 2024.
Key Policy Measures Affecting International Students
To manage temporary resident levels tied to the international student stream, the federal government implemented several policy changes throughout 2024 and 2025, including:
- Cap on study permit applications.
- Removal of Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) eligibility for graduates of programs offered through curriculum licensing agreements.
- Field of study restrictions for PGWP eligibility, limiting it primarily to graduates of bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral programs.
- Introduction of language testing requirements for PGWP applicants.
- Tighter rules for spousal open work permits, now limited to spouses of doctoral students, master’s students enrolled in programs of at least 16 months, and students in select professional programs.
- In October 2024, for the first time, the government included temporary resident targets in its Immigration Levels Plan 2025–2027.
The 2025 target of 305,900 international student admissions was formally established in that October 2024 plan.
