Canada’s New Cap on International Enrollment Shocks Private Institutions

The new rules have left many post-secondary institutions scrambling as the cap on permits will begin immediately with little time for schools to react accordingly.

On Monday, January 22nd, the Canadian federal government announced a new set of policies aimed at decreasing the number of international students enrolling in programs at Canadian colleges and universities. In his announcement, Immigration Minister Marc Miller declared that the ministry will institute a cap on study permits given out over the next two years. Thus, the number of new study permits approved in 2024 will be restricted to approximately 360,000; a 35% decrease from 2023. 

As an explanation for why the federal government has chosen to implement these new policies, the ministry has cited unsustainable growth in the number of international students coming to Canada, an international student system that is under threat, and limited support for students arriving in Canada. Expanding on the latter, the last few years have shown that rapid increases in international enrollment has placed pressure on housing, healthcare, and other key services within the community. Specifically, housing has been a key issue across the country as international students struggle to find places to live once enrolled in their programs.

Furthermore, it is likely that the cap on international students is primarily aimed at punishing the private institutions or as the Minister called them, “the diploma equivalent of puppy mills”. Also, Miller explained that the new policies will not affect the number of study permits approved for masters or doctoral programs. He followed up by saying, “those are the people we are looking for”. In response, Michael Sangster, CEO of the National Association of Career Colleges said, “We are concerned to hear the minister state that graduate-level international students are ‘what we are looking for’ when Canada is in desperate need of health care workers, tradespeople to build more houses, early childcare educators, and truck drivers”.

Perhaps one of the new policies with the largest impact on the private sector, the federal government also declared that post-graduate work permits will no longer be approved for students enrolled in programs that are part of curriculum licensing arrangements. Students who are taking programs under these types of agreements physically attend a private career college that has been licensed to administer the curriculum of an associated public college. Now, students who graduate these programs will no longer be eligible for work in Canada upon their completion. This will likely have a devastating impact on many private colleges that have developed a majority of their business relying on these public-private partnerships..

In addition to the announcement made on Monday, there is still much confusion surrounding how these limited study permits will be allocated between schools. While the minister did say that permits for each province would be doled out relative to the size of the province’s population, it will be up to the provinces themselves to decide which designated learning institutions benefit from each study permit. Unfortunately, leaving it in the hands of the province doesn’t look good for private institutions as both the Ontario and British Columbia governments have already released statements vowing to crack down on private colleges that have been accused of exploiting international students.

As of now, it's too soon to predict the degree of impact these new rules will have on private institutions but many in the sector are concerned that it could represent a huge change in how they approach student enrollment. They will still be doing exactly what they have always done best; teaching students the skills that are in highest demand within our communities. However many will need to shift their focus back towards the domestic student population. At least for the next two years.