Canada Student Visa News: Nova Scotia Set To Process Only 12,900 Study Permits in 2024

Key Points

• Nova Scotia will be processing 12,900 international study permits, a 36% decrease compared to 2023.
• The move is an attempt at mitigating the housing crisis believed to be caused by high amounts of Canada student visa applications.
• Universities such as Cape Breton might be hit the hardest by the changes to the Canada visa application process.

In recent changes reflected in Canada student visa news, Nova Scotia, a western province of Canada, is set to process only 12,900 international study permits for the academic year 2024-25.

The Canadian government has made changes to the Canada student visa application process and policy where the country will only allow 360,000 students to come to Canada to study abroad.

These 12,900 study permits will be divided among public, private, and community colleges, as per the headlines in today’s Nova Scotia news. Advanced Education Minister Brian Wong announced the news of this cap on Nova Scotia’s study permits during a debate on his department’s budget on Monday at Province House.

Wong said, "Previous to this year, schools could submit really an infinite number of applications of international students to the federal government and sometimes the success rate of those going through for some schools was on average with the rest of Canada, and sometimes they were very low.”

Dreams of a student visa for Canada from India take a hit as the number of study permits processed this year would take a hit of about 36% compared to last year in 2023 when study permits processed were approximately 19,900. The changes are in line with Ottawa’s attempts at easing the national housing shortage in conjunction with the country’s 2-year cap on international students.

“We also wanted to make sure that schools that were ready for some growth got the opportunity to be able to grow,” said Wong who added that his department is holding back 99 application spaces to allow for flexibility.

The Canadian government’s success rate for successful student visa applications is about 60%. Therefore, if one were to take the number as a general metric, then out of 12,900 applicants, 7,740 would make it through.

Out of Nova Scotia’s 10 major universities, Cape Breton University would take the worst hit as it would witness a major shortage of international students in Canada. The university has been allocated 5,086 applications - a 52% dip from last year. The university had already announced it was capping admissions to its 2-year post-baccalaureate diploma business program in May; a department hit in the international student scene.

Université Sainte-Anne, which offers classes in French, and Halifax's Mount Saint Vincent University, which had a 44% decline in enrollment, were two of the other major losers. Minister Wong admitted that it might be too early to determine whether each school will face any financial implications as students end up applying to different universities. This means that they might not even end up at a Nova Scotia university. However, individual universities that increase their conversion rates - the percentage of students who get their Canada student visa applications approved versus those who end up enrolling - might not face the financial brunt.

“Our conversion rate in Nova Scotia is 39 percent… the national average is actually 60 percent, so if they can improve towards that 60 percent, a lot of schools won’t be affected.”

Executive Director of the Association of Nova Scotia Universities, Peter Haplin, announced that the incoming changes were not unanticipated after the changes IRCC had introduced towards the country’s study permit outlook in recent Canada student visa news.

“Our universities in Nova Scotia have been preparing for that change and they are anxious to get out into the marketplace.” Haplin added, “There will be a financial hit, there’s no denying that, but the conversion rate is the big factor here.”

TL;DR

Nova Scotia will process only 12,900 international study permits for 2024-25 for international students in Canada. This is part of Canada's new cap of 360,000 study permits. This is a 36% decrease from last year. The changes aim to address housing shortages and allow schools ready for growth to expand. Nova Scotia universities, especially Cape Breton University, will see significant drops in international student numbers. However, schools improving their conversion rates may mitigate financial impacts