Tough changes but still how Canada should be your best study destination in 2025?

Canada, A country with friendly people, amazing infrastructure, a peaceful environment, and quality education. Canada has always been the number one study destination amongst international students for many years. Every year the enrollment number goes up at least till 2023, Thanks to the Indian community who played an amazing role in sending young Indian boys and girls to study in Canada even If we take a closer look at 2022 data, it would reveal that a total of around 5,50,000 international students received the study permit, out of which 2,26,000 were from India likewise for 2023 federal government approved total 684,305 international students out of which 2,78,335 were from India. of course, Punjabis and Gujaratis love to go to Canada for studies. Things were pretty awesome till 2023 sep, but suddenly something unexpected happened, Yes, Mr. Trudeau wanted to be the apple of the eye in front of domestic people (I believe elections 2025 are coming) as well as in front of the world, This is the reason he indirectly blamed the Indian government’s in front of the Canadian parliament and put allegation on having the hands over the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian Sikh who was involved with the khalistani movement,. Things took a nasty turn and even Trudeau did not expect this. Both countries have expelled their diplomats and issued advisories for both the countries’ citizens to take extra precautions while traveling. Yet, the ones who got impacted the most in this whole repercussions were Indian students and Canadian Institutions. After this tit-for-tat process, the Canadian government made some hard decisions to hinder the inflow of international students which indirectly affecting in a large scale to Indian students who are coming to Canada for further studies but after these challenges how would Canada still be the number one destination for Indian students?

After the turmoil between India and Canada, A Canadian politician Mr. Marc Miller who is currently working as a minister of immigration, refugees, and citizenship, Miller chalked out many reforms in the international student sector, which helped Indian students look for another study destinations such as USA, UK and Europe. Here is a glimpse of back-to-back updates by the federal government.

Increased living cost for international students

The first step Marc Miller took to attract the overseas education market is to increase the living expenses and put an extra burden on international students who were planning to come to Canada. The new rule was applied by 1st Jan’2024, He increased the funds to CAD 20,635 from CAD 10,000 previously. To better inform international students about the true cost of living in this area, we are revising the cost-of-living criteria. The much-needed adjustments will shield overseas students from financial hardship and exploitation, according to Immigration, Refugees, and Citizenship Minister Marc Miller.

Noteworthy: Since the early 2000s, the CAD 10,000 cost of living criteria for applicants seeking study permits remain the same.

The veracity of the offer letter 

Immigration Refugees Citizenship of Canada or IRCC also chalked out measures to protect international students and strengthen the integrity of Canada‘s international student program. As per the announcement starting Dec 1, 2023, every DLI institution needs to confirm every applicant’s offer letter directly with IRCC. DLI Institutions are those institutions which have the power to host the international students.

Cap on International students’ intake

After getting pressure from the local community on housing and infrastructure issues, Marc Miller also announced to put some cap on international students for 2024 and 2025. According to him, there will be a reduction of 35% in new study visas for 2024. In 2024, the cap is set to 4,85,000 newly granted permits only. For 2025 the cap is set to be 4,37,000. 

Introduction of Pre-Attestation Letter

The federal government also introduced a new terminology. Pre-Attestation Letter or PAL. it is announced that to apply for a study permit, the majority of incoming international post-secondary students, whether at the college or undergraduate level, must now obtain a PAL from a province or territory. Master’s degree holders and PhD scholars are not required to obtain a PAL from the province or territory. 

New Language Proficiency Requirements

The federal government also made some changes in language proficiency and kept it to ensure that graduates can effectively move around the post-graduate work experience and the transition to permanent residency with the language skills they need. As per the announcement, University graduates must achieve a Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) of 7, which is equivalent to 6 bands in IELTS whereas for college graduates, a CLB of 5 is required.

Post-study work permit changes

As per the latest announcement made by IRCC, if you are planning to come to Canada for further studies and file the study permit on 1st Nov or afterward then you need to make sure that the stream you are going to choose in the college must be under the list of eligible post-study work programs, otherwise you are not entitled to receive stayback options in Canada. However, students who are willing to enroll in the universities are unaffected by this change and still be eligible for post-study work permits irrespective of field of study. 

So How now Canada still would be your number-one choice?

Of course, Canada has launched so many reforms while taking international students but the genuine students who wish to study in Canada, get the maximum output from post-study work permits,s and apply for permanent residency should not be dissatisfied. All the reforms which have been taken should have taken long back, never mind but the main purpose of these reforms is same, take the international students ‘bulk in a systematic way or in a structured way and to mitigate the number of fraud while recruiting students from across the globe. let’s take a deep dive into the real picture of Canada as a future study destination.

Immigration Plan

As per the immigration plan chalked out by IRCC, Maple Country is looking for immigrants, and as per the Immigration plan 2025-2027, Canada needs 3,95,000 immigrants by 2025, 3,80,000 by 2026, and 3,65,000 by 2027. This plan is designed to mitigate the pressures on housing, healthcare, and infrastructure while promoting economic growth. He added. Canada is struggling with a labor shortage in crucial sectors and it is very important to address it. Under “Federal Economic Priorities,” a larger portion of economic admissions are given to skilled workers, with an emphasis on vital industries like skilled crafts and health care, in acknowledgment of the significance of assisting these sectors. Since the economic category accounts for the biggest percentage of admissions annually—nearly 62% by 2027—supporting the Canadian economy remains a top goal of this Levels Plan.

Fifa World Cup

Those of you who are a fan of football or soccer must be aware that the Fifa World Cup will be jointly hosted by Canada, the USA, and Mexico in 2026 June. It will increase more jobs whether you talk about the ground staff or technical staff.

Canada is aging

Like many Western nations, Canada is facing severe aging issues with a lower birth rate. According to federal government data, by 2035, millions of Canadians will retire, and there will be only three workers for every retiree, meaning that 25% of the population will be retired by then, Mint reported. It is simple math if the country wants to grow, instead of shrink, it will have to invite immigrants. It is one of the biggest reasons that Canada do not have any other choices.

Canadian institutions are run by Indian student fees

Can you guess the spending done by indian students for overseas education? well as per the report Indian students spent around $47 billion in 2022 which is expected to rise to as high as $70 billion by 2025. Though it is overall survey but for Canada also the figure is very high because on an average indian student spend around 10-17 lakh per year. only punjab students spend around 68,000 crore INR or nearly $8 billion annually. This money not only help Canadian institutions to expand but also fuel up the local economy.

No other country has this much capacity to take international students

Though Canada has started the putting cap on international student yet it is the only country in the world which has this much capacity to invite international students, UK and USA are on hot study destination list yet Canada is winning the race for immigrants and international students.

Please Note – The above given information is provided only for education purpose and the content has been published by my own research