Canada, once a top draw for international students, has seen its foreign student population shrink by nearly 300,000 over the past two years, according to data shared by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC).
In December 2023, Canada had 673,970 foreign students holding a study permit. At the same time, another 320,830 individuals were in the country with both a study permit and a work permit. Taken together, this put the total international student population at 994,800.
By November 2025, those numbers had dropped sharply. The count of students with only a study permit fell to 476,330, while those holding both study and work permits declined to 244,900. This brought the combined total down to 721,230 international students.
The change represents an overall fall of 273,570 students, or a decline of 27.5 per cent.
Highlights
> Between December 2023 and November 2025, the number of international students in Canada fell by more than 27 per cent, a reduction of 273,570 students
> Student arrivals dropped by 60 per cent between January and November 2025 compared with the same period in 2024
> Canada is targeting further cuts in student numbers as part of a broader plan to bring temporary residents below 5 per cent of the total population
Policy shifts and falling arrivals
The sharp contraction in Canada’s foreign student population followed a series of policy changes rolled out mainly during the first half of 2024. These included a hard cap on international student enrolment, tighter rules around post-study work rights, and rising rejection rates for study permit applications.
Together, these measures have reduced the flow of new students arriving to begin their studies. IRCC data shows that student arrivals were down by 60 per cent between January and November 2025 compared with the same months in 2024.
Further reductions ahead
Canada’s Immigration Levels Plan points to a continued pullback in student numbers through 2026 and beyond. The country expects to welcome 155,000 international students in 2026, a 49 per cent reduction from the 2025 target. The annual intake is then set at 150,000 students for both 2027 and 2028.
For comparison, IRCC reported 293,100 actual student arrivals in 2024, before the full impact of the new controls was felt.
Temporary resident cap
The decline in student numbers sits within a wider effort to reduce the overall number of temporary residents, a group largely made up of international students and temporary foreign workers. The government’s plan is to bring this category to under 5 per cent of Canada’s population by the end of 2027.
In December 2025, Statistics Canada said, “On October 1, 2025, there were 2,847,737 non-permanent residents in Canada (6.8% of the total population), down from 3,024,216 on July 1, 2025 (7.3% of the total population). The decrease in the estimated number of non-permanent residents was the result of larger, record-high outflows (339,505) – that is, permits expiring – compared with inflows (163,026), which reflect permits issued,” said Statistics Canada.
Canada’s total population is projected to reach 41.6 million by the end of next year. To meet the government’s threshold of keeping temporary residents below 5 per cent, the number of non-permanent residents would need to fall to around 2.08 million by then, from roughly 2.7 million as of November 2025.