Canada’s Auditor-General is expected to conduct a probe into the country’s controversial international students programme. The audit was confirmed to the outlet Globe and Mail by Auditor-General Karen Hogan’s office though its contours were not revealed. A report on the subject is expected to be submitted to Parliament next year.
According to its website, the office of the Auditor-General of Canada “serves Parliament by providing it with objective, fact-based information and expert advice on government programs and activities” and conducts what it describes as “legislative auditing.”
Canada’s international students programme came in for severe criticism after the intake numbers exploded in the post-Covid year under then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In fact, the issue became a major problem for the ruling Liberal Party ahead of the 2025 Federal election.
Policy changes were instituted because record immigration was blamed, partly, for housing unaffordability, and pressure on health and transport infrastructure. After he led his party back to form the Government following the April 28 Federal election, Prime Minister Mark Carney made it clear that position will not change in the near future as he said temporary residents, including students and foreign workers, will not account for more than five per cent of the country’s population by 2027.
On September 18, 2024, IRCC stated the cap for issuing study permits for 2025 will be at 437,000, down from the target of 485,000 for this year. The “stabilizing” 2025 figure will also apply for 2026.
Canada started taking measures with regard to international students since late 2023. On December 7 that year, IRCC announced for new study permit applications received on or after January 1, 2024, a single applicant will “need to show they have CA$ 20,635 as against CA$ 10,000 earlier.
Study permits issued to international students from India have plummeted, down nearly a third in the first quarter of this year as against the corresponding period in 2024.
IRCC data showed that the number of permits issued to students from India in the first quarter of 2025 was 30640, versus 44295 last year, a drop of nearly 31 per cent. Overall figures have also declined, falling from 121070 in 2024 to 96015 in the first quarter of 2025.