In response to the decision made by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) on January 22, the department has also placed a limit on the total number of study permit applications it will review in 2024. A limited number of study applications.
The IRCC published ministerial instructions stating that the department will review up to 606,250 applications for study permits in 2024. This cap differs from the one announced on January 22nd, which pertains only to study permit approvals and is set at 360,000 study permit applications.
Instead, the total number of study permit applications that the IRCC will even evaluate in 2024 is mentioned in these new regulations. This means that, regardless of the outcome of each application, the IRCC will only be able to handle these 606, 250 requests for study permits during the following 11 months.
This new cap on study permits accepted for processing may be “amended by any subsequent instructions the minister may provide,” according to the instructions, which go one step further. This suggests that the minister may raise the latter amount to meet the IRCC’s processing cap of 606,250 applicants if the IRCC is unable to submit 360,000 approved study permit applications within that time frame.
How do these numbers compare to 2023?
Data from Canada’s open government data portal indicates that, between January and November of 2023, 579,075 applications for study permits were approved, putting them into force. The department processed 814,317 applications in total during the same period, of which these were approved, for an approval rate of 71%. limited number of study applications.
The limits announced in 2024 represent considerable reductions in study permit application processing and approvals when compared to the number of authorized and processed applications.
How will the new study permit cap work?
The distribution of Canada’s new study permit approval cap (360,000) among its provinces will be based on population weights. Given that Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia are Canada’s three most populous provinces, it follows that these three will likely receive the greatest number of research permit allocations.
The new policy will be put into effect through a system of attestation letters, requiring study permit applicants to submit an attestation letter from the province in which the designated learning institution (DLI) is located in addition to a letter of acceptance (LOA) from the DLI of their choice.
Following these new ministerial directives, the province or territory government shall write and sign attestation letters attesting to the applicant’s space within the province or territory’s authorized study permit approval quota.
Further, according to the ministerial instructions, attestation letters must contain an applicant’s:
- Full name;
- Date of birth; and
- Address
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