Just 30% of international students get green light in Canada in 2025: What’s behind the steep drop?

Since early 2024, Canada’s international education landscape has been shifting at a pace few could anticipate. Policy announcements, reversals, and reinterpretations have created an environment where yesterday’s facts are already outdated. For students, institutions, and communities alike, the rules of engagement are being rewritten in real time. The latest figures reveal a sharp contraction in study permit approvals, underscoring the growing instability in the sector. In 2024, Canada issued nearly 100,000 fewer permits than the target set by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, with approval rates dropping to 48%, reports Pie News . By 2025, the decline had intensified: applications are down by 50%, approvals for new students have fallen to just over 30%, and only 31,580 new