The Department of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship has announced that starting January 1, 2024, the cost-of-living financial requirement for study permit applicants will be raised so that international students are better prepared financially for life in Canada. Individual students will now have to prove they have CAN$20,635 in available funds, on top of the amount they need to pay for tuition and exclusive of any fees for other family members coming with them to Canada. This is more than double the amount that students are required to have in savings now (about CDN$10,000).

The Department also provided an update on 3 temporary policies affecting international students that were all set to expire at the end of 2023, including the following:

• Extended off-campus work hours protected until 30 April 2024: The waiver on the 20-hour-per-week limit on the number of hours international students are allowed to work off campus while class is in session will be extended to April 30, 2024. International students already in Canada, as well as applicants who have already submitted an application for a study permit as of December 7, 2023, will be able to work off campus more than 20 hours per week until that time.
• Online study to count towards PGWP until September 2024: The facilitative measure that has allowed international students to count time spent studying online towards the length of a future post-graduation work permit, as long as it constitutes less than 50% of the program of study, will continue to be in place for students who begin a study program before September 1, 2024.
• Extension of PGWP to be phased out: A temporary policy was introduced previously on 3 occasions to provide an additional 18-month work permit to post-graduation work permit holders as their initial work permit was expiring. Foreign nationals with a post-graduation work permit expiring up to December 31, 2023, remain eligible to apply. However, this temporary policy will not be extended further.