Canada Slashes Student Visa Approvals, Leaving Indian Applicants Facing Uncertainty

Canada has cut its international study-permit quota for 2026 to 408,000 a 7 % drop from 2025 and 16 % down from 2024. Indian students, who once formed the largest foreign cohort in Canada, are expected to be among the hardest hit. Meanwhile, raised scrutiny and stricter checks have driven the rejection rate for Indian applications up to 74 %.

The Canadian government is preparing to significantly reduce international study permits and temporary worker entries over the next three years a shift expected to heavily affect Indian nationals, who currently represent the largest share of these groups.

According to Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), study-permit issuances will be capped at 408,000 in 2026, a 7% drop from the 2025 target of 437,000 and 16% below the 2024 target of 485,000. The 2026 total includes 155,000 permits for new arrivals and 253,000 extensions for current students.

Work permits under the Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) and the International Mobility Program (IMP) are also set to decline, with 230,000 projected for 2026 and 220,000 annually in 2027 and 2028.

Indian nationals remain the most significantly impacted group. In 2024, they accounted for:

• 20.8% of TFWP entrants (39,790 individuals)
  
  
• 29.2% of IMP entrants (209,505 individuals)
  
  
• 36.5% of study-permit holders (188,465 individuals)
  

Canada’s 2025 plan allowed for 673,650 temporary residents including 367,750 workers and 305,900 students. By contrast, the new forecast drops total temporary entries for students and workers to 385,000 in 2026, and 370,000 in both 2027 and 2028, reflecting a nearly 43% reduction in temporary resident admissions.

IRCC said the goal is to bring temporary residents to below 5% of Canada’s total population by the end of 2027. The federal government noted that its 2024 study-permit cap has already slowed growth: the number of study-permit holders fell from more than 1 million in January 2024 to about 725,000 by September 2025.

Beginning January 1, 2026, students pursuing Master’s or PhD programs at publicly designated learning institutions will no longer require provincial or territorial attestation letters, recognizing their contribution to research and innovation. A full list of eligible schools will be released soon.

Exemptions from attestation-letter requirements will also apply to:

• K-12 students
  
  
• Certain federal priority and vulnerable groups
  
  
• Students renewing permits at the same institution and program level
  

The updated plan dramatically narrows future student admissions: instead of the previously expected 305,000 new international students per year, only 155,000 will be approved in 2026, declining to 150,000 in 2027 and 2028.

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Source: NDTV‍