Over 12K International Students Claim Asylum in Canada, New Data Reveals

While Canada has decided to further reduce the number of international students, recent data shows that thousands of students have claimed asylum throughout the first nine months of the year.

Global News has learned that more than 12,000 international students have submitted asylum applications to stay in the country once their visa expires.

News that more international students are applying for asylum was recently confirmed by Immigration Minister Marc Miller during an interview on The West Block, a Canadian television program. He described it as an “alarming trend.”

Official figures released at the end of December last year revealed that the number of international students in Canada increased to over one million for the first time in 2023, a 29 percent increase from 2022, Erudera.com reports.

“Like many countries, Canada is experiencing more asylum claims as the number of displaced people worldwide continues to grow, and that contributes to growing temporary resident volumes,” Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) said in a statement on September 18, 2024.

There were a total of 1,028,850 study permit holders in Canada in 2023, with Ontario hosting over half of them (526,015). Following this increase, Canada decided to introduce a two-year cap on international student permit applications to address pressure on housing and stabilize numbers. The cap would result in a 35 percent drop in approved study permits in 2024 compared to 2023.

“Today, we are announcing additional measures to protect a system that has become so lucrative that it has opened a path for its abuse. Enough is enough. Through the decisive measures announced today, we are striking the right balance for Canada and ensuring the integrity of our immigration system while setting students up for the success they hope for,” Miller said in a statement released in January.

After the cap for 2024, the government announced international study permits will be reduced by a further 10 percent. The new cap now includes students pursuing master’s and PhD degrees. That will mean 437,000 study permits issued during the next two years, both in 2025 and 2026.

Other additional measures announced to protect Canada’s immigration system include:

• Updating the Post-Graduation Work Permit Program infall to better align with immigration goals and labor market needs.
• Limiting work permit eligibility later this year, to spouses of master’s students to only those whose program lasts at least 16 months.

Earlier this year, IRCC announced a decrease in the number of temporary residents, from 6.5 percent of the total population in Canada to 5 percent by 2026.