We bring to you a comprehensive breakdown of the newly released updates to the Canadian Study Permit policies as of September 19th, 2024.
1.
Study Permit Cap for 2025 and 2026: In January 2024, the Government of Canada announced a limit to the number of international student permit applications. This limit affected initially only students pursuing post-secondary education (bachelors, certificate and diploma students).
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Update: the 2025 – 2026 study permit intake cap will include master’s and doctoral students who will now have to submit a provincial or territorial attestation letter. This means reducing study permits issued to 437,000 for 2025.
2.
Post-Graduation Work Permit Program (PGWP) Changes: In January 2024, students enrolled in public-private institutions or curriculum licensing arrangement programs were stated as no longer eligible for a post-graduation work permit starting September 1, 2024. Also Graduates of master’s and other short graduate-level programs were announced to soon be eligible to apply for a 3-year work permit, irrespective of their program’s length.
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Update:
1)
Graduates from programs at public colleges will remain eligible for a Post-Graduation Work Permit (PGWP) of up to three years if they graduate from a field of study linked to occupations in long-term shortage.
2)
Language Proficiency Requirement: PGWP applicants are now required to demonstrate a minimum language proficiency in French or English. A Canadian Language Benchmark (CLB) level 7 for university graduates and CLB 5 for college graduates will be required for anyone applying for a post-graduation work permit on or after November 1, 2024.
3.
Spousal Work Permits: In January 2024, open work permits were announced to be limited to spouses of international students in master’s and doctoral programs. Spouses of students in other levels of study were announced to no longer qualify.
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Update: spouses of master’s degree students whose program are at least 16 months in duration will be eligible for a work permit. Spouses of master’s degree students in lesser program duration are not eligible.
