The student Visa crackdown in Canada has greatly eased the population of foreign students in the higher education industry. This is a timely sign that Canada’s rapid population growth may reduce in the coming years.
According to the Statistics Canada report on Wednesday, the number of people with study permits drastically dropped in the first quarter, 24,594, compared with a decline of 16,003 in the same period last year.
The Impact of the Slight Reduction in Temporary Immigration
The reduction also contributed to easing population growth of temporary immigration. In the first quarter, it was recorded that Canada added 131,810 non-permanent residents to its population. That figure is one of the least quarterly net increases since early 2022.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government aims to reduce the number of International Student permits by a whopping 35% from last year to manage the intensive post-pandemic population growth in Canada and suppress the public’s anger over shortages in housing and public services.
When will the Restriction on Student Visas Take Effect?
The crackdown on Student visas is expected to take effect much later in the year. The most recent data revealed that the policy might have significantly contributed to breaking a string of quarterly gains.
Effect of Student Visa Crackdown and Temporary Immigration on Canada Population Growth
Just after the new restrictions were announced in January, the application processes for study visas and recruitment were hindered while the provincial and federal governments assembled new permit allocations for institutions. The announcement completely put Canada off the radar as a choice country for foreigners intending to use education as a pathway to permanent residency.
Canada’s population increased by 0.6% in the first quarter to 41 million. That has been the exact rate of growth recorded in the past three months, but with a decrease from 1.1% in the third quarter of 2023.
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Interestingly, Canada experienced applaudable population gains through the influx of newcomers after the pandemic hit, adding a million residents in the space of nine months to April. A good extent of the growth can be linked to temporary immigration.
According to the statistics agency, Canada’s population growth rate would have been 0.3% in the first quarter if temporary immigrants had not been eliminated. Between 2001 and 2021, Canada’s first-quarter growth ranged from 0.1% to 0.3%. The effect of the student Visa crackdown on easing Canada’s Population growth will be intense, as it will hopefully take effect later this year.
