EVERYTHING YOU MISSED ABOUT STUDY PERMITS IN 2025!
2025 was the year the Canadian student system was turned upside down. Restrictions, quotas, new PGWP rules, and a sharp increase in financial requirements completely upended the traditional "arrive → study → stay" path.
If you missed it, here's a complete overview of all the key changes: comprehensible, understandable, and to the point.
1. Study Permit Cap
On January 22, 2025, the Minister of Immigration announced the strictest cap in Canadian history:
• 305,900 new permits for 2025 (already 30% lower than last year).
• 155,000 is the 2026 quota, half the 2025 quota.
Extensions remain possible, however, at approximately 255,000 permits per year.
The following are excluded from the quota: elementary/high school students, francophones outside of Quebec, and master's and PhD students.
This means that colleges and undergraduate programs have been hit hard.
Each province received its own quota, and, as always, Ontario leads the way, but even it has faced unprecedented cuts.
2. New PGWP Rules – No Longer Available to Everyone
February 2025 marked the point of no return for graduates. The government introduced a fundamental change: eligibility for a PGWP now depends not on the program you completed, but on the program you were originally issued a study permit for. That is, if the program of study meets the list of those permitted for the PGWP, the graduate receives a work visa.
If not, even a perfect academic record won't save them.
This effectively closed the door for hundreds of private colleges whose programs previously offered the chance to receive an open work permit.
3. Study Permit Exemption for Construction Workers
Since February 2025, an unexpected step has been taken to accommodate the construction industry. A two-year study permit exemption has been introduced for those studying for construction licenses. Construction qualifications can now be obtained with work status, which should alleviate the acute labor shortage.
4. Permission to Work Up to 24 Hours a Week
Since April 2025, students have received an increased work limit: 24 hours a week, up from the previous 20. This approach allows students to cover part of their rising costs without turning their studies into illegal "moonlighting."
5. A Sharp Increase in Financial Requirements
2026 begins with one of the most painful changes:
• In Quebec, financial requirements will almost triple – from 7,756 CAD per year to 24,617 CAD.
• At the federal level, starting in September 2025, the minimum funds required to obtain a study permit will increase to 22,895 CAD per year.
This makes studying in Quebec significantly more expensive than elsewhere in Canada and creates a financial barrier for prospective students.
6. A New Rule for Changing Educational Institutions
Starting in May 2025, another important change: if a student changes educational institutions, they are required to reapply for a new study permit.
Not just notifying IRCC, as before. Not simply submitting a change of conditions. A complete reapplying of the permit is required. This complicates transitions between programs and makes students more "tied" to their original educational path.
All of the above cuts have already triggered a systemic crisis, and 2026 could be the point of no return.
Canada has reduced its international student influx by 30% as early as 2025, and the consequences have been far more severe than expected. While international students are often the subject of political controversy, they have effectively subsidized the Canadian education system for decades.
And here's what just the first wave of cuts in 2025 has yielded:
- In Ontario, colleges have already cut 600 programs, lost 8,000 staff, and faced a $1.8 billion financial hole.
- British Columbia has recorded a 31% drop in international students at KPU and an 8.6% drop at SFU, resulting in losses of $49 million, $20+ million, and dozens of layoffs.
- Even UBC, one of Canada's most resilient universities, has lost nearly 1,000 students, reducing international student revenue by millions.
But this is just the beginning.
Starting in 2026, the federal quota will be cut in half, to 155,000 students per year (compared to 305,900 in 2025). This means that even large universities will no longer be able to compensate for lost revenue, and many colleges simply won't survive these restrictions.
What's next? Expected...
- Massive layoffs of faculty and staff.
- Closure of academic programs and departments.
- College bankruptcies and privatization of individual institutions.
- Rising unemployment and a knock-on effect on the labor market.
- Reduction in research projects and a decline in educational quality.
If the 2025 cuts caused shock and financial losses, the 2026 quota cuts could lead to a structural collapse of Canadian higher education with long-term consequences for the economy, the research sector, and the country's attractiveness to talent. I don't have any ideas yet on how to avoid this, but I'd love to hear yours in the comments.
Oleksandra Melnykova, Immigration and Refugee Consultant in Canada.
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