On January 22, the immigration department declared a limit on the number of international students that it will grant study visas. After the announcement, Canada has now declared a limit on study permit applications for this year. As per this, IRCC will accept 606250 study Permit applications in 2024.

Read on to find the details concerning international students and study permit applications Canada will consider this year.  

IRCC will Accept 606250 Study Permit Applications in 2024

As per the previous declaration of January 22, Canada has set a cap of 360,000 study permit applications. As per the recent statement from IRCC, in 2024, it will accept a total of 606,250 study permit applications.

Both announcements concern international students. But the first one mainly regards the study permit approvals, and the recent one considers the new study permit applications. This means per the new declaration, IRCC revealed the total number of study permit applications it is going to evaluate during the course of 2024.

So, with no regard to the final decision issued on each application, IRCC will process only 606 250 study permit applications throughout this year.

In addition to this, IRCC further stated that this new limit on the study permits that are approved for processing may be adjusted if the minister provides further instructions. 

This means that the minister may raise the limits if the immigration department fails to meet the cap of 360,000 approved study permit applications under the processing Limit of 606,250 applicants.

Contrasting the figures of 2023 total study permit applications to 2024.

In 2023, IRCC approved a total of 579,075 study permit applications between January and November. This is per Canada’s open government data portal.

In total, the department processed a notable 814,317 applications from January to November 2023, of which these applications were approved. This marked an approval rate of a remarkable 71%.

As per this year’s limit, the figures illustrate a reduction in processing and approvals for study permit applications in 2024 as compared to 2023. 

How will Canada utilize the limits on New Study Permit Applications?

Canada will distribute the new study permit applications cap, i.e., 360,000, among its provinces as per their respective populations.

As per this, it’s anticipated that Canadian provinces like Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia will be allocated the most number of study permit applications. This is because these three provinces have the largest populations in Canada. 

It’s notable that the department will enforce a new policy using an attestation letters system. As per this system, international students who are applying for a Canadian study permit will require two documents:

1. A letter of acceptance (LOA) from a Canadian designated learning institution (DLI);
2. An attestation letter from the province in which the DLI is located

In addition, per the minister’s instructions, the provincial or territorial government must issue and sign the attestation letters. This will verify that the application falls within the allocated study permit approval cap of the province or territory.

Moreover, the instructions also noted that the applicant’s attestation letter must clearly state the full name, date of birth (DOB), and address of the applicant.