Canada Announces a New Cap on Study Visa for 2025

Canada New Rules For Student Visa 2025: Canada announces a new cap on study visas for 2025 reducing 10 percent than 2024. According to the new Canada student visa requirements 2025, Canada has announced a cap on study permit applications for 2025 at 550,162 starting from January 22, 2025. The step has been taken to manage the number of international students coming to Canada. IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada), official body that manages immigrants will process the applications till the cap is reached and return and refund the unprocessed applications. The study permit targets are divided into various categories, and graduate degree students and exempt applicants getting a substantial portion. Understanding these Canada study visa updates 2025 helps students to apply for a visa without any hassle and problems during the application process.

Latest: Canada Country Guide

This Story also Contains

1. Exemption to Groups from PAL/TAL Requirement
2. Study Permit Allocations for Provinces
3. New Regulations for DLIs
4. Canada to tighten border security during Trump's Presidency

Note: The cap is for applications accepted for processing. Do not confuse it with the number of study permits that will be approved this year. IRCC, Canada announced plans to issue 437,000 study permits in 2025, marking a sharp reduction of 10% from 2024. The decision was taken to reduce the influx of international students and limiting the growth of temporary residents. It is done to reduce the pressure on housing, health and other essential services. Earlier, Canada announced master's and doctoral students to submit a provincial or territorial attestation letter (PAL/TAL) as part of their application process. Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said, "The cap was intended to best support the attainment of the immigration goals established by the Government of Canada. Once the cap is reached, no more applications will be accepted."

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Exemption to Groups from PAL/TAL Requirement

Canada allows some groups to be exempt from PAL/TAL requirement that includes existing study permit holders applying for extensions at the same DLI (designated learning institution) as per the recent Canada study visa updates 2025. Primary and secondary students (K-12) and exchange students are also no longer required to submit PAL/TAL. Here are the breakdown of this regulation tightening on Canada student visa requirements 2025:

Breakdown of Study Permit Groups

• Graduate Degree Students: 73,282 study permits

• Kindergarten to Grade 12 Applicants: 72,200 study permits

• Other PAL/TAL-exempt Applicants: 48,524 study permits

• Remaining PAL/TAL-required Cohorts: 242,994 study permits

Out of the total, 3,16,267 permits will be allocated to PAL/TAL required applicants and the remaining 120,724 study permits will be issued PAL/TAL exemptions.

Study Permit Allocations for Provinces

Now, Canada student visa requirements 2025 will be stricter for international students given these changes. Study permit allocation for each province has been finalised by IRCC. As expected, Quebec, British Columbia, and Ontario received the highest allocations. Ontario will receive the maximum allocations with 116,740 study permits, while Quebec will receive 72,977 and British Columbia will receive 53,589 study permits. Also, other popular provinces Alberta and Saskatchewan 41,530 study permits combined.

New Regulations for DLIs

From November 2024, DLIs (Designated Learning Institutions) will have to follow new guidelines including the verification of letter of acceptance and also need to participate in student compliance reporting. Non-compliance will result in the suspension of the DLI for up to one year.

Canada to tighten border security during Trump's Presidency

Canada's immigration department announced that Canada will execute a Border Plan with an investment of $1.3 billion so that it can secure its border by enhancing its detecting capabilities and controlling the border traffic.

Canada new rules for student visa 2025 have impacted a lot of international students. Many students are applying to other alternative study abroad destinations such as Netherlands, Ireland, and others.