Canada will tighten the conditions for the study and employment of foreigners

Canada is further reducing the number of study permits for foreign students and tightening work permit requirements to reduce the number of temporary residents in the country, the government announced Wednesday.

The announcement comes as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government, which is trailing in opinion polls and suffered a landslide defeat in a by-election this week, seeks to reduce the number of temporary residents in the country, including foreign students and workers.

This issue has become one of the most contentious in Canadian politics, and the federal election is due to be held no later than October 2025.

The changes announced on Wednesday would reduce the number of international study permits issued to 437,000 in 2025. Canada approved 509,390 of them in 2023, according to the data of the immigration department, and in the first seven months of 2024, 175,920.

The changes would also severely limit the right to a work permit for the spouses of some students and temporary foreign workers.

As Canada experiences a large increase in the number of visa applicants, the government on Wednesday announced measures to strengthen the integrity of the visa system and “review visa decision-making so that our highly trained officers have the right tools to detecting fraud and reducing the number of fake visitors.”

“The reality is that not everyone who wants to come to Canada can, just like not everyone who wants to can stay in Canada,” said Immigration Minister Marc Miller.

The government is moreć obliged to reduce the number of temporary residents to 5% of the total population. In April, it was 6.8 percent.

Polls have shown that an increasing part of the public thinks that Canada is bringing in too many immigrants, and anti-immigrant rhetoric and attacks have increased in the country for some time. known for its hospitality to newcomers.