Canada Grants Over 216k Study Permits in First Five Months of 2024
Canada North America International Studies Higher Education News Statistics by Erudera News Jul 23, 2024

Canada issued 216,620 study permits to international students in the first five months of 2024, specifically from January to May 2024, newly released figures from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) show.
The number of study permits for international students this year outpaced last year’s record, with an 8 percent increase. Only 200,205 international study permits were granted during the same period in 2023, Erudera.com reports.
In the first five months of this year, 91,510 and 20,965 study permits were handed out to Indian and Chinese students, respectively.
Between January and May 2023, Canadian authorities issued 85,805 study permits to Indians and 15,565 to Chinese students. By the end of last year, 682,420 study permits were overall issued to international students.
Most of the other permits during the first five months of 2024 were granted to:
- Nigerians - 12,450 study permits by May 2024, an increase from 8,150 during the same month in 2023.
- Philippines - 10,140 permits, up from 9,300 within the same timeframe last year.
In 2023, there were more than one million international students (1,040,985) with valid study permits in Canada, a 29 percent increase from 2022, with China and India being the top two markets. The target was around 900,000 international students by the end of 2023.
Earlier this year, Immigration Minister Marc Miller announced a temporary two-year cap on international student numbers in Canada, saying the country would reduce enrollment by 35 percent as part of this plan.
Authorities said they expect to receive 606,000 study permit applications in 2024 and approve approximately 360,000 of these applications. The cap on new study permits for 2025 will be assessed at the end of this year.
“For 2024, the cap is expected to result in approximately 360,000 approved study permits, a decrease of 35 percent from 2023,” IRCC said in a statement on January 22, 2024.
The minister stressed the move came to protect international students from some “bad actors” who take advantage of international students and ensure a more sustainable population growth.
As part of these efforts, the federal government also decided to double the amount of disposable income international students need to be eligible for a visa. The financial requirement increased to $20,635 in 2024 from $10,000 over the past two decades.
“The cost-of-living requirement for study permit applicants has not changed since the early 2000s, when it was set at $10,000 for a single applicant. As such, the financial requirement hasn’t kept up with the cost of living over time, resulting in students arriving in Canada only to learn that their funds aren’t adequate,” IRCC said.
Starting this September, international students in Canada will be allowed to work off-campus 24 hours weekly and unlimited hours during breaks.
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