Canada Confronts Study Permit Abuse as Nearly 50,000 International Students Fail to Enroll
A January 2025 report has revealed that nearly 50,000 international students failed to register at their designated schools after arriving in Canada in March and April 2023.
Data from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada showed that these non-enrolled students accounted for 6.9% of the 717,539 international students being monitored at the time. The report highlights that 20,000 students from India did not attend their designated institutions, while Nigeria accounted for 3,902 unregistered students, and 2,712 students from Ghana were missing from enrollment records.
Meanwhile, 89.8% of international students (644,349) were confirmed as enrolled, while the status of 23,514 students remained unrecorded. The report also indicated that some of these students are working in low-paying jobs to sustain themselves, others have fallen victim to fraudulent educational institutions, and some have used Canadian study permits as a means to cross the border illegally into the United States.
To curb study permit misuse, Immigration Minister Marc Miller introduced stricter regulations in November 2023, including the potential suspension of colleges and universities that fail to report on student compliance for up to a year. IRCC has since intensified monitoring efforts to identify non-compliant students and ensure institutions meet reporting requirements.
Renée LeBlanc Proctor, a spokesperson for Minister Miller, emphasized that Canada is increasingly aware of the exploitation of temporary resident visas, particularly student permits. She noted that organized smuggling networks and global migration crises have exacerbated the situation, necessitating stronger oversight.
Source: Swifteradio.com
