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Canada's clampdown on international students has hit Indians hard, according to government data, with about 75 per cent of the permits being rejected.
Notably, India has been Canada's top source of international students over the past decade. Canada has continued its clampdown on international student permits it issues for the second year in a row in early 2025. The decision has been a part of Canada's broader effort to reduce the number of temporary migrants and address fraud related to student visas.
3 in 4 Applications Rejected By Canada
According to the immigration department data accessed by Reuters, about 74% of Indian applications for permits to study at Canadian post-secondary institutions in August - the most recent month available – were rejected, compared to about 32% in August 2023.
By contrast, about 40% of study permit applications overall in each of those months were refused. About 24% of Chinese study permits in August 2025 were rejected.
The number of Indian applicants has dropped, as well, from 20,900 in August 2023 - when Indians formed just over one quarter of all applicants - to 4,515 in August 2025.
In August, it also had the highest study-permit refusal rate of any country with more than 1,000 approved applicants.
Visa Clampdown: An Effort To Crack Down on Fraud
Recently in 2023, the Canadian authorities had uncovered nearly 1,550 cases where study permit applications were linked to fraudulent letters of acceptance. Most of such documents had originated from India, the Canadian immigration department told Reuters.
In 2024, Canada's beefed-up verification system detected more than 14,000 potentially fraudulent letters of acceptance from all applicants, it said.
How India Reacted
The Indian embassy in Ottawa said the rejection of study permit applications from students in India had come to its attention, but that the issuance of study permits is Canada's prerogative.
"However, we would like to emphasize that some of the best quality students available in the world are from India, and Canadian institutions have in the past greatly benefited from the talent and academic excellence of these students," the embassy said in a statement.
The report comes as India and Canada are trying to mend ties after months of frosty relationship.
(With agency inputs)
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