Again, Canada slashes foreign student permits to stop ‘bad actors’

Justin Trudeau, prime minister of Canada, says foreign students intake will be slashed by 10 percent from 2025.

Trudeau said the restriction has become imperative to protect the country.

“Immigration is an advantage for our economy — but when bad actors abuse the system and take advantage of students, we crack down,” the prime minister said.

Canada relies on economic immigrants to raise the revenue it needs to support social spending on services such as education and healthcare, as it strives to maintain high living standards amid the country’s low birth rate.

However, the North American country has in recent times tweaked its liberal immigration policies.

Earlier this year, the Canadian government announced a two-year cap on study permits to limit its international students intake.

Marc Miller, minister of immigration, unveiled what he described as principal measures to improve programme integrity and maintain a sustainable presence among international students entering the country.

Miller said Canada will approve 364,000 undergraduate study permits in 2024, a reduction of 35 percent from 2023.

The minister said the total would be spread across each province and territory according to population.

Last month, Canada recalibrated its labour market by announcing a slash on foreign workers and investments in its workforce.

The overhaul reversed expansions made to the temporary foreign worker (TFW) programme in 2022, which saw an increase in economic migrants arriving the country to fill one million vacant positions.