Canadian authorities have commenced plans to reduce the number of international student visas by 35 per cent while restricting work permits for students who undertook graduate programmes in the country.

Marc Miller, the Canadian minister of immigration, refugees, and citizenship, made this announcement on Monday.

The cap on international student visas and work permits, according to Mr Miller, is the latest in a series of measures to improve programme integrity and to set international students up for success, maintaining a sustainable level of temporary residence in Canada as well.

Mr Miller said, “For 2024, the cap is expected to result in approximately 364,000 approved study permits, a decrease of 35% from 2023.”

The move to have a cap on international student visas and work permits, Mr Miller said, will check private Canadian universities taking advantage of the students’ international visas to run “under-resourced campuses.”

“It is unacceptable that some private institutions have taken advantage of international students by operating under-resourced campuses, lacking supports for students, and charging high tuition fees – all the while significantly increasing their intake of international students,” Mr Miller said.

“These measures are to ensure that as future students arrive in Canada, they receive the quality of education that they signed up for and the hope that they were provided in their home countries.”

This followed an increase in the “cost-of-living financial requirement for study permit applicants” for international students from $10,000 to $20,000, which took effect on January 1, 2024.