
Canada is imlementing a temporary, two-year cap on the number of new study permits issued to international students. The cap will be in place for two years, with the number of new study permit applications that will be issued in 2025 to be assessed at the end of 2024.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced that these measures are to ensure that as future students arrive in Canada, they receive the quality of education that they signed up for and the hope that they were provided in their home countries. However, the cap will not apply to students in graduate-level programmes, including master’s or doctoral studies. Study permit applications at the elementary and secondary school levels will also be exempt from the cap. The cap will not apply to applicants within Canada looking to extend their studies as it wouldn’t be fair to prevent someone from finishing their programme. Nor will the cap have an effect on study permit holders currently in Canada.
Minister Miller also announced that from 1st September 2024, post-graduate work permits will no longer be available to students enrolled in programmes delivered via public-private partnerships. At the same time, the government is also moving to expand post-study work rights for graduate students, explaining that, “Graduates of master’s and other short graduate-level programs will soon be eligible to apply for a three-year work permit.”
Open work permits will only be allowed and be available to spouses of international students enrolled in master’s and doctoral programmes as well as those enrolled in professional programmes, such as medicine and law. Spouses of students enrolled in other levels of study, including undergraduate and college programmes, will no longer be eligible for the open work permits.
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