Canadian schools are accepting international students by the thousands — but nearly half aren’t being allowed into the country

Good data journalism highlighting the impact of provincial and federal government policies along with economic interests have resulted in the international student system losing its way. But encouraging that there is some selectivity being applied for study permits:

….The new data, in the eyes of one policy expert, shows the system is being flooded with subpar applicants, a consequence of schools’ hard push to get as many international students through their doors as possible.

Between Jan. 1, 2022, and April 30, 2023, the Immigration Department approved 54.3 per cent or 470,427 of the 866,206 study permit applicants who had been accepted by a school here — so-called designated learning institutions that have been authorized by provinces to host international students.

Ontario is the top destination for international students and home to the largest number of the 1,335 designated learning institutions in Canada. 

Approval rates vary vastly among the schools.

Public colleges generally had higher rejection rates than public universities. Private institutions had still higher rejection rates, though students destined for private institutions made up less than 10 per cent of the overall applications. …

Source: Canadian schools are accepting international students by the thousands — but nearly half aren’t being allowed into the country