Canada to further cut international student, foreign worker permits

Ottawa: Canada announced on Wednesday it was slashing international student permits next year, and tightening foreign worker rules to further bring do...

Ottawa: Canada announced on Wednesday it was slashing international student permits next year, and tightening foreign worker rules to further bring down the number of temporary residents in the country.

The move comes after several recent rounds of restrictions aimed at taming record immigration levels that pushed Canada's population past 41 million earlier this year.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government has pointed to the high immigration as 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.

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