Canada’s clampdown on international students has hit applicants from India particularly hard, government data shows, as what was once a preferred destination loses its allure for Indian students.
Canada lowered the number of international student permits it issues for the second year in a row in early 2025 as part of a broader effort to reduce the number of temporary migrants and address fraud related to student visas.
About 74% of Indian applications for permits to study at Canadian post-secondary institutions in August – the most recent month available – were rejected, compared to about 32% in August 2023, according to immigration department data provided to Reuters.
By contrast, about 40% of study permit applications overall in each of those months were refused. About 24% of Chinese study permits in August 2025 were rejected.
The number of Indian applicants has dropped, as well, from 20,900 in August 2023 – when Indians formed just over one quarter of all applicants – to 4,515 in August 2025.
India has been Canada’s top source of international students over the past decade. In August, it also had the highest study-permit refusal rate of any country with more than 1,000 approved applicants.
The spike in refusals of would-be students comes as Canada and India seek to mend ties after more than a year of tension. Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused the Indian government of involvement in the 2023 murder of a Canadian in Surrey, British Columbia. India has repeatedly denied the allegations.
(BBC)
