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The Canadian federal government has capped study permit applications at 505,162 for the remainder of 2025.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) announced this cap in ministerial instructions posted on January 18, 2025. The cap will be effective from January 22 to December 31, 2025.

The department will only process study permit applications until the cap has been reached. After the cap has been reached, any further applications will be returned without processing and the application fees refunded.

This cap is for applications accepted for processing. It is not the number of study permits that will be approved this year.

According to the ministerial instructions, provincial and territorial governments in Canada have already been given allocations for international students, based on the 505,162 study permit application processing target.

The federal government caps study permit applications with the aim of limiting the issuance of net new study permits, so as to limit the increase in the number of temporary residents.

This article will cover the implications of this new cap and provide further context into changes coming to the international student program this year.

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Who is exempt from this processing cap?

Under the new ministerial instructions, the following study permit applicants are exempt from the above processing cap:

• Applicants seeking to renew their study permit at the same Designated Learning Institution (DLI), and at the same level of study as the existing study permit they currently hold.
• Applicants subject to an unenforceable removal order, who also hold a temporary resident permit that is valid for at least six months.
• Applicants who
  • Are being sponsored by their Canadian loved one for immigration under in-land sponsorship;
  • Are protected persons;
  • Have applied to become a permanent resident of Canada and received an exemption order for a study permit; or
  • Are a family member of any of the above persons.
• Applicants who are applying as exchange students to a DLI in Canada.
• Applicants who apply to study at a DLI that is administered by a federal department or agency.
• Applicants who have received scholarships for non-Canadians that are administered and funded by Global Affairs Canada.
• Applicants who have been selected to participate in the Francophone Minority Communities Student Pilot.
• Applicants who are in Canada or are entering Canada and are applying under the provisions of a public policy enacted by the federal immigration minister, in response to a crisis or other pressure.
• Applicants who are exempt from needing a study permit as set out in the Temporary public policy to exempt certain Indigenous persons and their family members from temporary residence requirements.

What is the difference between applications processed and applications approved?

The 505,162-application figure represents the total number of applications that IRCC will consider, not the applications that are approved. Since the implementation of the international student cap on January 22, 2024, IRCC has opted to cap the number of study permit applications that it will process.

Comments made by Immigration Minister Marc Miller in 2024 reveal that IRCC sets a goal for study permit approvals. The department implements this goal by assuming a consistent rejection rate for study permits and factoring in students already in Canada, who will likely choose to extend their status in the country (based on previous years of data). With these two considerations in mind, the department sets a processing cap, within which it will seek to meet the approvals target for the coming year.

This year’s processing target of 505,162 applications is considerably fewer than the 606,250 applications that the department aimed to process last year. In 2024, IRCC aimed to approve 364,000 study permit applications.

IRCC has not yet stated how many study permits it will aim to approve throughout the year.

The 2025-2027 Immigration Levels Plan reveals that the department hopes to welcome (or land) 305,900 new students each year between 2025 and 2027—but this is not the number of approved study permits, but rather the number of new international students that IRCC will aim to welcome to Canada yearly. Due to the time difference between when a student applies for a study permit, and their arrival in Canada to begin their studies, landings and application approvals are not the same.

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