Nigerians and Indians were among the highest number of international students seeking asylum in Canada, according to the Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).

Data from the IRCC showed that 2,290 Indian students made up 14 per cent of the 14,000 asylum applicants filed between January and September 2024.

Nigerians ranked second on the list with 1,990 asylum applications, while Ghana had the third highest requests with 1,385 applicants and Guinea with 1,095.

Nine hundred fifty applications came from the Democratic Republic of Congo, 775 from Rwanda, 630 from Iran and 445 from Bangladesh.

Cameroon was ninth on the list, with 405 Canadian asylum requests, and the Ivory Coast had 385.

The data further revealed that study permits granted to Indians and Nigerians in Q3 2024 have dropped by approximately 50 per cent compared to Q3 2023, as the country imposes new restrictions to control the high influx of immigrants.

No fewer than 21,040 Nigerians have been issued study permits in 2024 and 151,340 Indians got theirs to continue to stay in Canada, a figure that shows the degree to which both nations sought solace in the North American nation.

Canada’s Minister of Immigration, Marc Miller, recently clarified that permanent residency was not guaranteed for immigrants on study visas in a new wave of adjustments to cut down on the nation’s ballooning population.

“When people came in here and decided to be students, it wasn’t a guarantee to become a permanent resident,” Mr Miller said while stressing that work permits for international students will not be extended.

According to the minister, the decision to reduce immigration was crucial to managing the population without placing undue strain on Canada’s economy.