Effect of the international student cap by country

Further to my earlier analysis of the overall effect on post-secondary study permits below, I have also done an analysis of the effect by country on study permit applications and study permit issued.

For the country analysis, the public tables do not have a breakdown by study level, so the tables below include all levels (post-secondary study permits form 80 percent).

Starting with applications (finalized applications). Despite an overall decline quarter to quarter, there is considerable variation among source countries with a number of countries showing an increase 2024 to 2023 quarter. This may reflect some processing time lags:

In contrast, study permits issued has an overall consistent pattern of decrease in study permits among all countries save Saudi Arabia. The most striking decline is India, almost 100 percent, but Nigeria declined by over 50 percent, with Philippines and Turkey close behind. The greater reduction of Indian students likely reflects some of the negative stories by or about Indian students and their frustrations and struggles, all covered in Indian as well as Canadian media.

In short, the implementation of the cap has resulted in an overall decline in the number of applications and study permits issued, and thus is achieving the policy and program goal (web interest in getting a study permit has also declined).