By Emmanuel Nduka
Canadian authorities have announced plans to slash the number of international student visas by 35 percent in 2024.
Also, work permits will be restricted for students who undertook graduate programmes in the country, Marc Miller, the Canadian Minister of Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship, announced on Monday.
According to Miller, the adjustments on international student visas and work permits is the latest in a series of measures to improve programme integrity and to set international students up for success, maintaining a sustainable level of temporary residence in Canada as well.
“For 2024, the cap is expected to result in approximately 364,000 approved study permits, a decrease of 35% from 2023,” Miller said.
The move to have a cap on international student visas and work permits, Miller said, will check private Canadian universities taking advantage of the students’ international visas to run “under-resourced campuses.”
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“It is 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.
“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,” Miller said.
This followed an increase in the “cost-of-living financial requirement for study permit applicants” for international students from $10,000 to $20,000, which took effect on January this year.
