ADVISORY ON TWO YEAR CAP ON INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ADMISSIONS IN CANADA

The Ministry is in receipt of communication from the Kenya High Commission in Ottawa, Canada informing that the Ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship (IRCC) announced that the Government of Canada would set an intake cap on international student admissions for a period of two years.

The implementation of the cap was immediate and expected to result in approximately 360,000 approved study permits, a decrease of 35% from 2023. In the spirit of fairness, individual provincial and territorial caps have been established, weighted by population, which will result in much more significant decreases in provinces where the international student population has seen the most unsustainable growth. Study permit renewals will not be impacted. Those pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees, and elementary and secondary education are not included in the cap. Current study permit holders will not be affected.

IRCC will allocate a portion of the cap to each province and territory, who will then distribute the allocation among designated learning institutions. To implement the cap, as of January 22,2024, every study permit application submitted to IRCC will also require an attestation letter from a province or territory. Provinces and territories are expected to establish a process for issuing attestation letters to students.