Canada has recorded a 53% decline in arrivals of new foreign students and workers over the first nine months of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024.
This reduction was indicated based on data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
Pan-Atlantic Kompass reports that the data is from January to September 2025.
A breakdown of the data showed that new international student arrivals were hit particularly hard, falling by 60%, accounting for 150,220 fewer students entering the country. Similarly, new temporary worker arrivals decreased by 48% over the same nine-month span.
The drop in Canada’s study permit approvals was evident in the new study permit holders recorded in August 2025, which totaled just 45,380, down sharply from 79,795 recorded in August 2024. This represents a decline of 43.1%.
When comparing year-over-year, there have been 132,505 fewer new student arrivals between January and August 2025, as compared to the same period in 2024.
From January to August 2025, Canada’s study permit approvals numbers stood at 89,430.
Aside from study permit approvals, in August 2025, Canada recorded 16,890 new temporary foreign worker arrivals.
This figure is slightly lower than the previous month’s total of 18,450.
Year over year, the drop is much more pronounced. From June through August 2025, the total number of new worker arrivals in Canada was 59,365.
This is a 35% decrease from the same period last year, during which there were 91,695 new worker arrivals.
In total, from January to August 31, there were 243,945 student and temporary worker arrivals in Canada.
This is 278,900 fewer arrivals than the same period last year.
Temporary worker arrivals also declined significantly. Between January and September 2025, Canada recorded 48 per cent fewer new temporary workers than during the same period in 2024, a drop of 158,660. In September alone, 17,515 new temporary workers arrived in the country.
As of the end of September, 1,494,900 people in Canada held only a work permit, while 251,300 held both work and study permits. The government has stressed that reducing temporary worker numbers will help prioritise job opportunities for residents already in Canada and better align immigration with labour market needs.
The decline in new foreign students and workers arrivals comes after a series of policy changes introduced by the Canadian government. Since 2024, Canada has capped the number of study permits issued to international students, with the cap reduced by a further 10 per cent in 2025. Authorities have also introduced stricter measures, including mandatory verification of acceptance letters and higher financial requirements, to curb study permit fraud.
The government has indicated that it will continue scaling back new student admissions between 2026 and 2028 under its Immigration Levels Plan, reinforcing its goal of maintaining manageable migration levels.
IRCC has released the much-anticipated breakdown of the 2026 study permit cap and its subsequent provincial study permit application allocations.
This move represents a recalibration of Canada’s international student program, aiming to manage the country’s temporary resident population.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass had earlier reported that IRCC pegged the 2026 student permit cap at 408,000.
This is a total study permit that includes both new arrivals and extensions for students already in Canada. This target is lower than in previous years, reflecting the government’s strategy to restore sustainability to the system.
Under the new policy, Canada is set to grant permanent residency in 2026 and 2027 to 33,000 work permit holders who have “strong roots in their communities, are paying taxes, and are helping to build the strong economy Canada needs,” Champagne explained.
A breakdown of the 408,000 study permits in 2026 shows that 155,000 permits will be issued for newly arriving international students, while 253,000 extensions will be issued for current and returning students.
The 2026 student permit cap is 7% lower than the 2025 issuance target of 437,000 and 16% lower than the 2024 target of 485,000.
