Around 450,000 student permits were issued in 2021, breaking the previous record in 2019.
In 2019, Canada opened its doors to over 400,000 new international students. This was the highest record of student permits ever issued in a single year. Unfortunately, this number dramatically declined by over 40% in 2020.
With the spread of COVID-19 in the first quarter of 2020, many countries, including Canada, introduced travel restrictions. This hindered many prospective students from entering the country to commence their studies. Fortunately, by October of the same year, Canada eased the said travel restrictions to allow eligible individuals, including international students, to enter the country again.
One of the top contributors to the record-breaking number of international students in Canada in 2021 is the combination of students who enrolled in 2020 and 2021.
Out of the 450,000 student permits issued in 2021, many of these were students who enrolled in the previous year. But because they couldn’t enter the country at the height of the pandemic, they deferred their intakes to 2021.
Another factor is the easing of the requirements to be eligible for the Post Graduate Work Permit (PGWP) Program. The PGWP Program is a great tool that international students can use to increase their Comprehensive Ranking Score (CRS) and become eligible for Permanent Residency. This is because the PGWP allows international students to get a 1-3 year work permit after graduation. This enables them to find employment and gain valuable Canadian work experience.
As the PGWP is only available to international students who complete their studies in Canada, this posed a problem to students who were unable to enter Canada and were starting their programs in their home countries. Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) later relaxed this requirement in August 2020 to allow students who enrolled in the pandemic to remain eligible for the PGWP program.
According to IRCC, the top 10 sources for international students in 2021 were the following countries:
- India: 217,410
- China: 105,265
- France: 26,630
- Iran: 16,900
- Vietnam: 16,285
- South Korea: 15,805
- The Philippines: 15,545
- The United States: 14,325
- Nigeria: 13,745
- Mexico: 11,550
India remains the top source of international students, accounting for more than 30% of Canada’s international student population. The Philippines, on the other hand, landed its spot at number 7 with over 15,000 Filipino student permit holders.
