New Rules For International Students Wanting to Enter Canada 2024

What are the new rules for international students wanting to study in Canada in 2024?  For many years now, Canada has been a top destination for international students wishing to complete their education in Canada. With their high-quality educational institutions, beautiful natural environments, and opportunities for multi-cultural immersion, students from all over the world have flocked to various Canadian cities hoping to study, work, and eventually immigrate to Canada, or to gain a high-quality Canadian education and then bring its benefits to bear on their career aspirations back in their home country.

What are the new rules for international students wanting to enter Canada in 2024? Immigration Law

The Canadian government has announced that it will be putting a yearly cap on the number of new international students who may receive study permits in Canada.

On January 22, 2024, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced that for the year of 2024, the cap on new study permits to be issued will be set at approximately 360,000 permits.  This is 35% less than the number of permits issued in 2023.  This 360,000 quota will be distributed between all the provinces and territories of Canada, with the share of the quota going to each province or territory being proportional to the population of that province or territory. Each province or territory will then decide how to distribute its share among all its schools which have a Designated Learning Institution number.

This new policy will be in place for two years, with the cap number for 2025 to be decided at the end of 2024.

What is the Reason for Immigration Canada’s Policy Change?

Up until recently, the Canadian government had not limited the number of international students entering Canada. All that was usually needed was a Letter of Acceptance from a school with a Designated Learning Institution number (and other standard personal documents) in order to apply for a study permit.

However, recently there have been many concerns regarding international students. These include:

• Some schools in Canada may be accepting too many students without giving them proper support in order to make more tuition income;
• Problems with housing and public services availability that can result from rapid increases of new international students in Canada

What do these new rules mean for students who want to apply for a study permit?

For international students wanting to study in Canada, this means that starting January 22, 2024:

• every application for a new study permit must include a Provincial Attestation Letter (PAL) issued by the province where the school is located.
• Each PAL represents one spot in the quota given to that province by IRCC.
• The PAL must be included with the application on top of all the other usual supporting documents that were required, including the Letter of Acceptance from the school.
• If the PAL is not included, the application will be returned as incomplete and not processed.

Unfortunately, this means that students who apply too late to receive one of the limited PALs that each province can issue each year, will not be able to apply to study in Canada for that year.

Even though the requirement for the PAL was effective starting January 22, 2024, IRCC has given each province or territory until the deadline of March 31, 2024 to have a procedure in place for issuing PALs. This means that new international students may not be able to submit an application for a study permit until their province of choice begins issuing PALs, which may not be until March 31, 2024.

What can I do if I don’t get a Provincial Attestation Letter?

If you are unable to get a PAL, an immigration lawyer may be able to help you with exemptions.  Alternatively, because many students wanting to study in Canada have immigrating to Canada as the end goal of their studies, an experienced immigration lawyer may be able to help you find another way to apply for permanent residence in Canada other than your original study plan.

Some possible alternative ways to immigration/permanent residence include:

• Working instead of studying in Canada
• Family sponsorship, if you are in a qualifying relationship with a Canadian citizen or permanent resident and were looking to reunite with them in Canada
• Skilled immigration categories, if you have foreign work experience and/or a job offer in Canada
• Starting a business in Canada

An immigration lawyer can provide step-by-step guidance and help you navigate all of the immigration options above.  Contact us today to discuss your options.