Canada to approve only 2,92,000 study permits for international students this year

Canada has implemented its study permit cap, with the Trudeau government allotting approximately 292,000 permits for undergraduate and post graduate students in 2024.

Recent revelations from Canada's Immigration Minister, Marc Miller, have shed light on the actual number of study permits available for college and undergraduate international students in 2024—approximately 292,000, according to recent report by the Globe and Mail.

This comes after Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) imposed an overall cap on study permit applications, aiming to address what they deem as "unsustainable growth" in the international student program.


The initial cap, set at around 360,000, was intended to reduce the number of approved study permits by 35% over two years, emphasizing the need to enhance the system's integrity. However, the immigration minister may not have the statutory authority to limit the number of approved visas, only the applications processed by IRCC.

During a meeting of the Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration (CIMM), Minister Miller clarified, stating, "I can only cap the applications and not the actual issuance of visas." The cap was designed to control intake levels and was distributed by population across Canada.

Miller's instructions excluded primary and secondary school and master’s and doctorate level university programs, resulting in an estimated 360,000 approved study permits in 2024, assuming a 60 percent approval rate.

The implementation of this study permit cap is delegated to provincial governments, with IRCC expecting them to issue Provincial Attestation Letters (PALs) to eligible international students. DLIs (Designated Learning Institutions) in each province are responsible for providing PALs, signifying the student's authorization to contribute to the province's study permit allocation.

To apply for a study permit under the new system, applicants now require both a letter of acceptance (LOA) and a PAL. Previously, only the LOA was necessary. The number of allocations given to each province or territory is based on their respective populations.

Currently, British Columbia and Alberta are the only provinces that have announced their systems for delivering PALs. Students will obtain PALs through their DLIs, applying to the provincial government once they meet all eligibility criteria.

The federal government has set a deadline of March 31, 2024, for all provincial governments to establish and implement their PAL delivery systems, marking a significant shift in the landscape for international students seeking to study in Canada.