Canada to cut student visas and foreign worker permits

Canada announced Wednesday it was slashing international student permits next year and tightening foreign worker rules to further reduce the number of temporary residents in the country.

The move follows several recent rounds of restrictions aimed at taming record immigration levels, which pushed Canada’s population past 41 million earlier this year.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government has pointed to the high immigration straining the country’s housing sector, jobs market, and social services.

“It is a privilege to come to Canada. It is not a right,” Immigration Minister Marc Miller told a news conference.

Ottawa plans to issue 437,000 study permits to international students in 2025, down from 485,000 this year and more than 500,000 in 2023.

It is also limiting work permits for spouses of some international students and foreign workers and stepping up checks before issuing travel visas to stem a spike in fraudulent or rejected asylum claims.

Ottawa has already said it would reduce the number of temporary residents to five percent of the population, down from 6.8 percent in April.