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Immigration News Alert
Canada: International Student Visa Cap 2025
Key Points
- Canada introduced its provincial and territorial student visa allocations for 2025
International Student Visas in Canada
Canada announced changes to international student visa admittance numbers for 2025. In 2024, IRCC capped study permit applications at 437,000 to ease housing and healthcare strain, reducing international students by 40%.
IRCC will issue 437,000 study permits in 2025, a 10% decrease from 2024. The requirement for a provincial or territorial attestation letter (PAL/TAL) now includes master’s and doctoral students and most applicants within Canada. Graduate students have reserved spaces, and exchange students are exempt.
Exemptions from PAL/TAL:
- Primary and secondary (K-12) students
- Certain Government of Canada priority groups and vulnerable cohorts
- Existing study permit holders applying for an extension at the same designated learning institution (DLI) and level of study
The breakdown of study permits for 2025 by student cohort is as follows:
| 025 national target | |
| Study permits issued to graduate degree students | 73,282 |
| Study permits issued to kindergarten to grade 12 applicants (PAL/TAL-exempt) | 72,200 |
| Study permits issued to all other PAL/TAL-exempt applicants | 48,524 |
| Study permits issued to remaining PAL/TAL-required cohorts | 242,994 |
| Total | 437,000 |
The government also issued quotas by province.
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