Canada student visas down 66%, foreign worker arrivals cut by half in 2025

Canada cut new student visas by 66 per cent and temporary worker arrivals by 51 per cent in early 2025, as IRCC tightened caps and raised requirements

Canada is reducing the number of international students and temporary workers it accepts, with fresh data showing steep declines in 2024 and the first half of 2025. Between January and June 2025, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) issued 66 per cent fewer new study permits compared with the same period last year. New arrivals of foreign students fell by 88,617 with only 4,185 new study permits issued in June 2025.

 

“Through the 2025–2027 Immigration Levels Plan, we’re making our immigration system more responsive to the needs of the country,” IRCC said in an update on Monday. “This includes reducing the number of students and temporary workers coming to Canada to help ease pressures on housing, infrastructure, and services. We have committed to returning immigration to sustainable levels, including reducing Canada’s temporary population to less than 5 per cent.”

 

A sharp fall in study permits

 

In 2024, Canada granted just 267,890 new study permits, almost 100,000 fewer than the official IRCC target and a 48 per cent drop from 2023. The cap on international students was introduced in 2024 and tightened by a further 10 per cent in 2025.

 

Key steps taken by IRCC on the student side include:

 

• Annual cap on study permits with a 10 per cent reduction for 2025

• Stricter acceptance letter checks to prevent fraud

• Higher financial requirements for applicants

• Closure of the Student Direct Stream

 

As of June 30, 2025, 546,562 people in Canada held only a study permit. A further 312,010 held both work and study permits.

 

Temporary worker arrivals also shrinking

 

The decline is not limited to students. Temporary worker arrivals dropped by about 51 per cent in the first half of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024. Just 24,058 new temporary workers entered Canada in June 2025.

 

Measures affecting workers include:

 

• A 10 per cent cap on low-wage hires per workplace, with 20 per cent allowed in certain in-demand sectors

• Refusal-to-process policy for applications in urban areas with unemployment at or above 6 per cent

• Stricter rules on eligibility for the Post-Graduation Work Permit Programme

• Restrictions on work permits for spouses of temporary residents

 

As of June 30, 2025, 1,504,573 people in Canada held only a work permit.

 

Transition to permanent residence

 

Despite the overall decline, Canada is offering more pathways for those already in the country to stay on. From January to June 2025, more than 100,000 temporary residents gained permanent residence, making up half of all new permanent residents in that period.

 

Many of these applicants are graduates of Canadian institutions or have local work experience. Most were admitted through economic programmes such as Express Entry and the Provincial Nominee Programme.